A 17 foot pipe is cut into three sections. The longest section is 3 times as long as the shortest and the middle sized section is 2 feet longer than the shortest. Find the length of each section to the nearest foot
if the sections are a,b,c then we have
a+b+c=17
c=3a
b=a+2
solve those to get the lengths of
3,5,9
To find the lengths of each section, let's assign variables to represent the lengths of the shortest, middle-sized, and longest sections of the pipe.
Let's say the length of the shortest section is x feet.
According to the problem, the longest section is 3 times as long as the shortest. Therefore, the length of the longest section is 3x feet.
Additionally, the middle-sized section is 2 feet longer than the shortest. So, the length of the middle-sized section is x + 2 feet.
Since the sum of the three sections is equal to the total length of the pipe, we can write the equation:
x + (x + 2) + 3x = 17
Now, let's solve the equation to find the value of x:
5x + 2 = 17
5x = 15
x = 3
Therefore, the length of the shortest section is 3 feet, the length of the middle-sized section is x + 2 = 3 + 2 = 5 feet, and the length of the longest section is 3x = 3 * 3 = 9 feet.
So, the lengths of each section are approximately 3 feet, 5 feet, and 9 feet, respectively.