2-4s. A 12-ft board is sawed into three smaller pieces. The longest piece is 2.5 ft longer than

the smallest one and 2 ft longer than the middle-sized one. Find the length of the

middle-sized piece.

3.5 ft.

Step-by-step explanation:

Let the x ft be the length of the smallest piece then the longest piece will be x+2.5 ft and the middle piece is x + 2.5 - 2 = x + 0.5 ft.

So we have:

x + x + 2.5 + x + 0.5 = 12

3x + 3 = 12

3x = 9

x = 3.

So the length of the middle-sized piece is 3 + 0.5

= 3.5 ft.