The sides of a triangle are 4x(cm), 5x+3(cm) and 7x-1(cm). If the perimeter of the triangle is 130 (cm), what is the length of the shortest side of the triangle?

Well, first you need to find x/

All the sides added together will equal the perimeter, so set up this equation...
4x+5x+3+7x-1=130
16x+2=130 
16x=128 ---> subtract 2 from both sides
x=8 ---> divide both sides by 16


Now plug in x to the equation for each side, and the one resulting in the smallest number is the answer, which should be the 4x that is 32 cm