A 40 feet long rope is cut into two pieces. If one piece is 20 feet longer than the other, what is the length in feet of the shorter piece?

Question: A 40 feet long rope is cut into two pieces. If one piece is 20 feet longer than the other, what is the length in feet of the shorter piece?

Solution:
Let the length of the shorter piece be x feet.
Then, the length of the longer piece is (x + 20) feet

ATQ,
Since the total length of the rope is 40 feet.
x + (x + 20) = 40
⇒ 2x + 20 = 40
⇒ 2x = 40 - 20
⇒ 2x = 20
⇒ x = 20/2
∴ x = 10

So, The length of the shorter piece is 10 feet.