Mary cut off 2/5 of a piece of string. Later, she cut off another 14 m. The ratio of the length of string remaining to the total length cut off is 1 : 3.
What is the length of the remaining string?
Solution to the Problem:
The answer is 10m.Let L be the original length of the string, and R be what is remaining once you have cut the string twice.
We know that R = (L x 3/5) - 14m, and that ((L x 2/5) +14) /R = 3, or 2L/5 + 14 = 3R.
By substituting the first equation in the second we have 2L/5 + 14 = 9L/5 -42.
which rearranges to: 7L/5 = 56, or L = 40.
So R = 10m.
Correctly solved by:
| 1. James Alarie | Flint, Michigan |
| 2. Jim Hooker | Johnson City, Tennessee |
| 3. Kimberly Howe | Tuscaloosa, Alabama |
| 4. Eliza Sheffield & Anna Vice | Tuscaloosa, Alabama |
| 5. SreeRoopa Sankararaman | Singapore, Singapore |
| 6. Brijesh Dave | Mumbai city, Maharashtra, India |