Question

Donald is 38 years younger than Natalie. 5 years ago, Natalie's age was 3 times Donald's age. How old is Donald now?

Answer 1

9514 1404 393

Answer:

  24

Step-by-step explanation:

Let d represent Donald's age now. Then Natali's age now is d+38. The age relationship 5 years ago was ...

  (d+38) -5 = 3(d -5)

  d +33 = 3d -15 . . . . . eliminate parentheses

  48 = 2d . . . . . . . . . . . add 15-d

  24 = d . . . . . . . . . . . . . divide by 2

Donald is 24 years old now.

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Alternate solution

You can also work this by considering that 5 years ago, Natalie's age was more than Donald's age by twice Donald's age then. Hence Donald was 38/2 = 19 at that time. Now, Donald is 19+5 = 24.