Question

Hema is $24$ years older than her daughter Dhamini. $6$ years ago, Hema was thrice as old as Dhamini. Find their present ages.

Answer 1

Let the present age of Dhamini be '$x$' years then we can make the following table:

	Dhamini	Hema
Present age	$x$	$x+24$
$6$ years ago	$x-6$	$(x+24)-6=x+24-6=x+18$

But as given that $6$ years ago Hema was thrice as old as Dhamini
$\therefore$ $x+18=3(x-6)$
$x+18=3x-18$
$x-3x=-18-18$
$-2x=-36$
$x=18$
Therefore present age of Dhamini $=x=18$ years
Present age of Hema $=x+24=18+24=42$ years.