Help with math question.?

Question

A pole-vaulter uses a 15-foot long pole. She grips the pole so that the segment below her left hand is twice the length of the segment above her left hand. Her right hand grips the pole 1.5 feet above her left hand. How far up the pole is her right hand? Pleas e help.

Answer 1

Start with the left hand sentence:

She grips the pole so that the segment below her left hand is twice the length of the segment above her left hand.

The length of the segment above her left hand is x.

The length of the segment below her left hand is twice that, or 2x.

The total length of the pole is 15 feet.

x + 2x = 15

3x = 15

x = 5

So, the segment above her left hand is 5 feet long (x), and the segment below her left hand is 10 feet long (2x).

Now, for the right-hand sentence:

Her right hand grips the pole 1.5 feet above her left hand.

(5 - 1.5) = 3.5

The segment below her right hand is (10 + 1.5) = 11.5 feet long.

The segment above her right hand is (5 - 1.5) = 3.5 feet long.

Her right hand is 11.5 feet up the pole.