Question

Harvey plans to use 5 ft of shelving for four shelves whose lengths are to be a series of consecutive even numbers. How many inches long should each shelf be ?

Answer 1

4 shelves of consecutive even numbers
x , x + 2, x + 4, x + 6

5 ft = 60 inches

x + (x + 2) + (x + 4) + (x + 6) = 60....combine like terms
4x + 12 = 60
4x = 60 - 12
4x = 48
x = 48/4
x = 12 <==== one 12 inches

x + 2 = 12 + 2 = 14 <== one is 14 inches
x + 4 = 12 + 4 = 16 <== one is 16 inches
x + 6 = 12 + 6 = 18 <== one is 18 inches