Question

HELP

Ethan is 40 years old. His son is 12 years old.
In how many years ago was Ethan 5x older than his son?
I only need the answer, no explanation

Answer 1

Let the years ago was Ethan 5 times older than his son be x According to question, 40 - x = 5(12 - x) 40 - x = 60 - 5x x = 5

Answer 2

ANSWER IS 5




so
how many years ago=x
so
'in how many years ago (-x) was ethan 5 times older than son
40-x means ethan's age x years ago
12-x means son's age x years ago
so
ethan's age x years ago is 5 times as much as son's age 5 years ago

40-x=5(12-x)
distribute using a(b+c)=ab+ac
40-x=60-5x
add 5x
40+4x=60
subtract 40
4x=20
divide 4
x=5




ANSWER IS 5 years