Question

Eight years ago, the daughters age was thrice the son's age. Now the daughter's age is 4 years more than the son's age. Find their present ages.​

Answer 1

Answer:

Let s be the son’s current age and d be the daughter’s current age. The system of equations is:

s - 10 = 2(d - 10)

s = 3 + d

Since s is already set to an equation, we can use the substitution method for s in the other equation:

s = 3 + d

s - 10 = 2(d - 10)

3 + d - 10 = 2(d - 10)

Simplify and solve for d:

3 + d - 10 = 2(d - 10)

-7 + d = 2d - 20

-7 = d - 20

13 = d

The daughter is 13 years old. To solve for the son’s age, we will plug in the solution for d into one of the equations. The second one is simpler so we will use that:

s = 3 + d

s = 3 + 13

s = 16

The son is 16 years old. Let us use the other equation to check our solutions:

s - 10 = 2(d - 10)

16 - 10 = 2(13 - 10)

6 = 2(3)

6 = 6

It checks out. The son is 16 years old, and the daughter is 13 years old.