A 20 foot rope is cut so that one piece is 5 feet longer than the other. Find the length of each piece

Let one piece of the rope be x

Let the other piece of rope be x + 5

These two pieces put together will make 20 feet.

So we say:

x + (x + 5) = 20

What is x? We expand the equation.

x + x + 5 = 20

x + x = 20 - 5

2x = 15

x = 7.5

The shorter piece is therefore 7.5 feet.

The longer piece is 7.5 + 5 = 12.5 feet.