A piece 12

A piece of wire is of length 12 3/4 m. If it is cut into two pieces in such a way that the length of one piece is 5 1/4 m, what is the length of the other piece?

Correct answer:

b =  7 ¹⁄₂ = 15/2 m

Step-by-step explanation:

$$\begin{gathered} s=12\frac{3}{4}=12+\frac{3}{4}=\frac{12\cdot 4+3}{4}=\frac{48+3}{4}=\frac{51}{4}=12.75\text{m} \\ a=5\frac{1}{4}=5+\frac{1}{4}=\frac{5\cdot 4+1}{4}=\frac{20+1}{4}=\frac{21}{4}=5.25\text{m} \\ a+b=s \\ b=s-a=\frac{51}{4}-\frac{21}{4}=\frac{51-21}{4}=\frac{30}{4}=\frac{15}{2}\text{m}=7\frac{1}{2}\text{m}=7.5\text{m} \end{gathered}$$

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