Question

Jim, Carla and Tomy are members of the same family. Carla is 5 years older than Jim. Tomy is 6 years older than Carla. The sum of their three ages is 31 years. How old is each one them?​

Answer 1

We are given these three people age below:

• Jim's age
• Carla's age
• Tomy's age

We define the age of Jim as any variable, because the problem doesn't give any specific age. I will define Jim's age as x.

• Jim's age = x

Next, Carla is 5 years older than Jim. That means if Carla is 5 years older, her age would be x+5.

• Carla's age = x+5

Then Tomy is 6 years older than Carla. That means the age would be 6+(x+5).

• Tomy's age = 6+(x+5)

The sum of their three ages is 31 years old. That means we add all these ages and equal to 31.

$\large{x + x + 5 + 6 + x + 5 = 31}$

Combine like terms and solve for x.

$\large{3x + 16 = 31} \\ \large{3x = 31 - 16} \\ \large{3x = 15} \\ \large{x = 5}$

Then we substitute the value of x in ages to find these three people ages.

• Jim's age = x = 5
• Carla's age = x+5 = 5+5 = 10
• Tomy's age = 6+(x+5) = 6+(5+5) = 6+10 = 16.

Answer

• Jim's age = 5
• Carla's age = 10
• Tomy's age = 16