GMAT Linear Equations Explained — A rope 20.6 meters long is cut into two pieces. If the

A rope 20.6 meters long is cut into two pieces. If the length of one piece of rope is 2.8 meters shorter than the length of the other, what is the length, in meters, of the longer piece of rope?

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Explanation	Calculations	Help
$We first create variables to represent the lengths of the two rope pieces.$	$x = length of the longer piece$	Theory & Tactics Method Card TRANS1-A Click to view full details
$We translate the total length of the rope from the text "A rope 20.6 meters long is cut into two pieces" .$	$x + y = 20.6$	Theory & Tactics Method Card TRANS1-C Click to view full details
$We translate the relative difference from the text "the length of one piece of rope is 2.8 meters shorter than the length of the other" .$	$y = x - 2.8$	Theory & Tactics Method Card TRANS1-D Click to view full details
$We substitute the expression for y into the total length equation and solve for x .$	$x + (x - 2.8) = 20.6 2 x - 2.8 = 20.6 2 x = 20.6 + 2.8 2 x = 23.4 x = 11.7$	Theory & Tactics Method Card EQUA1-A Click to view full details

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The longer piece measures 11.7 meters.