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John is 6 years older than his brother. He will be twice as old as his brother in 4 years.

How old is John now? Step 1 Let x represent John's age now. Step 2 Express the other unknown, his brother's age now in terms of his brother's age now =

x using relationship (1).

x-6

Step 3 Express their ages in 4 years in terms of x. now John's age in 4 years x+4

his brother's age x-6 x-6+4 Step 4 Substitute their ages in four years obtained in step 3 into relationship (2) to set up an equation. x + 4 = 2(x - 6 + 4) Step 5 Solve the equation for x.

x + 4 = 2(x - 6 + 4) x + 4 = 2(x - 2) x + 4 = 2x - 4 8=x x=8


So John is 8 years old now.

Carol is five times as old as her brother. She will be three times as old as her brother in two years. How old is carol now?

Step 1 Let x represent her brother's age now. Step 2 Express the other unknown, Carol's age now in terms of Carol's age now = 5x Step 3 Express their ages in 2 years in terms of x. now Her brother's age Carol's age in 2 years x+2 5x +2

x using relationship (1).

x 5x

Step 4 Substitute their ages in two years obtained in step 3 into relationship (2) to set up an equation. 5x +2 = 3(x + 2) Step 5 Solve the equation for x. 5x +2 = 3(x + 2) 5x + 2 = 3x + 6 2x = 4

x=2
Carol's age now is 5x = 5

2 = 10.

Jeff is 10 years old and his brother is 2 years old. In how many years will Jeff be twice as old as his brother?

Step 1 Suppose in

x years Jeff will be twice as old as his brother. x


years in terms of x. now in

Step 2 Express their ages in

Jeff's age his brother's age Step 3 Substitute their ages in

10 2

x years x + 10 x+2

x years obtained in step 2 into the relationship to set up an equation.

x + 10 = 2(x + 2)
Step 5 Solve the equation for x.

x + 10 = 2(x + 2) x + 10 = 2x + 4 6=x x=6


So in 6 years Jeff will be twice as old as his brother.

The sum of Ben and carol's age is 36. Nine years ago, Ben was twice as old as Carol. How old is each now?

Step 1 Let Ben's age now = x

Step 2 Express the other unknown, Carol's age now in terms of So Carol's age now = 36 - x Step 3 Express their ages 9 years ago in terms of x. now Ben's age

x using relationship (1).

9 years ago x-9

Carol's age 36 - x 36 - x - 9 Step 4 Substitute their ages 9 years ago obtained in step 3 into relationship (2) to set up an equation. x - 9 = 2(36 - x - 9) Step 5 Solve the equation for x.

x - 9 = 2(36 - x - 9) x - 9 = 2(27 - x) x - 9 = 54 - 2x 3x = 63 x = 21
So Ben's age now is 21, Carol's age now is 36 -

x = 36 - 21 = 15.

1. A son is half as old as his father. 12 years ago the son was one third as old as his father. How old is each now? 2. Jason is 8 years older than his brother. 10 years ago the sum of their ages was 82. Find the age of each. 1. In eight years, Barry will be two times as old as he is now. How old is he now? 2. Sue is three fifths as old as she will be in 10 years. How old is she now? 3. Jeffrey is twice as old as he was eight years ago. How old is he now? 4. Maggie is two and a half times as old as she was 15 years ago. How old is she now? 5. In four years Ben will be three times as old as he was 12 years ago. How old is he now? 6. Three years ago Jim was three times as old as Tom was then. In five years Jim will be twice as old as Tom will. How old is each now? 7. In four years Steve's age will be two years less than twice Anne's age. Three years ago Steve was three times as old as Anne was then. How old is each now?

8. In five years John's age will be three years more than two thirds of Terry's age. Four years ago The sum of their ages is 20. How old is each now?

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