Question

Michael and Tom are brothers. Their combined age is 20, and Tom is 4 years older than Michael. What are Michael and Tom’s ages?

Answer 1

Tom is 12 and Michael is 8

Explanation:

Answer 2

Micheal is 8, and Tom is 12 years old.

Explanation:

To solve this, we can set each of their ages as a variable. Let's say Michael's age is x.

We know Tom is 4 years older than Michael, so Tom's age is x+4.

We also know that their combined age is 20, so if we add both of their ages, we should get 20.

Solving;

`x + (x+4) = 20\\2x+4 = 20\\2x=16\\x=8.`

So Michael's age is 8, and Tom is 12.