Question

Ten years later, A will be twice as old as B and five years ago, A was three times as old as B. What are the present ages of A and B?

Answer 1

Let the present age of A be x years and the present age of B be y years.

After 10 years, A’s age will beyears and B’s age will beyears. Thus using the given information, we have

Before 5 years, the age of A wasyears and the age of B wasyears. Thus using the given information, we have

So, we have two equations

Here x and y are unknowns. We have to solve the above equations for x and y.

By using cross-multiplication, we have

Hence, the present age of A isyears and the present age of B isyears.