Chapter 9 - Basic Algebra - 9.8 Using Equations to Solve Application Problems - 9.8 Exercises - Page 691: 47

The longer length of the wire is $19$ ft and the shorter length of the wire is $12$ ft.

Let $x = $ the longer length of the wire $(x) + (x - 7) = 31$ $2x - 7 = 31$ $2x = 38$ $x = \frac{38}{2}$ $x = 19$ ft Let $y = $ the shorter length of the wire $y = (x - 7)$ $y = 19 - 7$ $y = 12$ ft