An electrician cuts a 26ft piece of wire into two pieces. One piece is 4ft longer than the other. How long are the pieces? What is the length of the shorter piece?__ft
11 & 15
To solve this problem, we can set up a system of equations. Let's call the length of the shorter piece "x" (in feet).
According to the problem, the other piece is 4ft longer than the shorter piece. Therefore, the length of the longer piece is "x + 4" (in feet).
We know that when we add the length of the two pieces together, we get the total length of the wire, which is 26ft. So we can write the equation:
x + (x + 4) = 26
Now, we can solve this equation to find the value of x (the length of the shorter piece).
Combining like terms, we have:
2x + 4 = 26
Subtracting 4 from both sides:
2x = 22
Dividing both sides by 2:
x = 11
Therefore, the length of the shorter piece is 11ft.