A machine cuts a strip of carpet into two pieces. The length of the smaller piece is 5 meters greater than the length of the larger piece. If the length of the smaller piece is 12 meters, the length of the bigger piece is meters and the total length of the carpet is meters.
Accepted Solution
A:
[tex]\bf \stackrel{\stackrel{small~piece}{length}}{a}=\stackrel{\stackrel{large~piece}{length}}{b}+5\impliedby
\begin{array}{llll}
\textit{small piece's length}\\
\textit{ 5 longer than large piece's length}
\end{array}
\\\\\\
a=12\qquad \qquad 12=b+5\implies 12-5=b\implies 7=b[/tex]