Question

Johann is 60 and Chad is 34 years younger. How many years

ago was Johann three times as old as Chad?

Answer 1

Answer: 6 years ago

Step-by-step explanation: Since Chad is 34 years younger than Johann, Chad is currently 26. 60 divided by 3 (since the question says three times) is 20, and 26 (Chad’s current age) minus 20 is 6. So, 6 years is the correct answer.

Answer 2

21 years

Explanation:

Let x represent the number of years since Johann was 3 times Chad's age. The given relation can be written as the equation ...

(60 -x) = 3(34 -x)

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Solving this, we have ...

60 -x = 102 -3x . . . . . eliminate parentheses

2x = 42 . . . . . . . . . add 3x-60

x = 21 . . . . . . . . .divide by 2

21 years ago, Johann was 3 times as old as Chad.

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Additional comments

Their ages then were 39 and 13.

If you recognize the age difference is 60-34 = 26 years, and that J will be 3×C when C's age is half that difference, then you know C was 13 at that time. That was 34-13 = 21 years ago.