Answer:
[tex]Length\ of\ the\ long\ piece=40\ meters\\\\Length\ of\ the\ short\ piece=17\ meters[/tex]
Step-by-step explanation:
Let be "s" the length in meters of the short piece and "l" the lenght in meters of the long piece.
Set up a system of equations:
[tex]\left \{ {{s+l=57} \atop {s=l-23}} \right.[/tex]
Apply the Substitution Method to solve the system. Substitute the second equation into the first equation and solve for "l":
[tex](l-23)+l=57\\\\2l=80\\\\l=\frac{80}{2}\\\\l=40[/tex]
Susbstitute the value of "l" into the second equation in order to find the value of "s". This is:
[tex]s=40-23\\\\s=17[/tex]
