181k views
5 votes
a woman is 3 times as old as her son.8 years ago the product of their ages was 112. find their present ages​

User Jon Wilson
by
4.8k points

1 Answer

5 votes

Answer:

Son 12 and woman 36 years old.

Explanation:

Let the age of the woman now be 3x years, then her son's age = x years.

8 years ago the woman's age was (3x-8) and her son's age was (x- 8) years, so:

(3x - 8)(x - 8) = 112

3x^2 - 32x + 64 = 112

3x^2 - 32x - 48 = 0

3x^2 - 36x + 4x - 48 = 0

3x(x - 12) + 4(x - 12) = 0

(3x + 4)(x - 12 ) = 0

x = -1.33... , 12 . ( We ignore the negative value).

So the son's age is 12 and the woman's age is 36.

User Jack Murdoch
by
5.6k points
Welcome to QAmmunity.org, where you can ask questions and receive answers from other members of our community.