Let the present age of the son be x years.
As the man is 3 times as old as his son, the present age of the man will be (3x) years.
5 years ago:
Son's age = (x 5) years
Man's age = (3x 5) years
According to the question:
(3x 5) = 4(x 5)
or, 3x 5 = 4x 45 [On expanding the brackets]
or, 3x 5 = 4x 20
or, 20 5 = 4x 3x [Transposing 3x to the R.H.S. and 20 to the L.H.S.]
or, x = 15
∴ Present age of the son = 15 years
Present age of the man = 3x = 315
= 45 years