A piece of the string 175 cm. in length was cut into two pieces, the ratio of whose length was 5:2. Find the length of the smallest piece.
Let the length of the greatest piece be x
Therefore, the length of the smallest piece be 175−x
According to the problem, we have
x175−x=52
2x=5(175−x)
2x=875−5x
7x=875
∴x=125
Therefore, length of smallest piece is 175−x=175−125=50 cm.