<human>:  Ian has a board that is 40 feet long. He decides to make a cut so he can have two pieces. The longer piece is 4 times longer than the shorter piece. How long is the longer piece?
<bot>: Define a variable ** Let x be the length of the shorter piece.
How long are the two pieces? ** The two pieces are 4x and x in length.
Write an equation ** The equation is 4x + x = 40 when the lengths of the two boards are added.
Simplify ** Adding like terms makes the equation 5x = 40.
Divide by 5 ** Then dividing 40 by 5 gives the value of x which is <<40/5=8>>8.
How long is the longer piece? ** Since x =8, the longer piece is 4*8 = 32.
#### 32