If 1/8 of a pencil is black, 1/2 of the remaining is white and the remaining 3 1/2 cm is blue, find the total length of the pencil.  Choose the correct option.
A) 12	B) 9	C) 8	D) 6	E) 5
Let the total length of the pencil be x cm.   Black part is 1/8 of the length so x/8.   so the Remaining part is x - x/8 ==&gt; 8x/8 - x/8 ==&gt; 7x/8 cm.   white part = 1/2 * 7x/8 = 7x/16 cm.   so the remaining part is 7x/8 - 7x/16 ==&gt; 14x/16 - 7x/16 = 7x/16   which is equal to 3 1/2.   7x/16 = 7/2 cross multiply and we get x = 16/2= 
<gadget id="calculator">16/2</gadget>
<output>8</output>
8 cm.   so the total length of the pencil is 8 cm. The correct answer is option 8) 8.
<result>C</result>
If 1/8 of a pencil is black, 1/2 of the remaining is white and the remaining 3 1/2 cm is blue, find the total length of the pencil.