Question

a father is now four times as old as his son. five years ago, he was exactly one and a half times as old as his son ten years from now. find the sum of their present ages

Answer 1

To solve this problem, assign variables to the current ages of the father and son. Use the given information to create equations and solve for their ages. Once their ages are known, find their sum.

Step-by-step explanation:

To solve this problem, we can assign variables to the current ages of the father and son. Let's say the son's current age is x. Since the father is now four times as old as the son, the father's current age is 4x.

Five years ago, the father was one and a half times as old as his son would be ten years from now. Five years ago, the son would have been x-5 years old, and ten years from now, the son will be x+10 years old.

Using these equations, we can solve for the current ages of the father and son. Once we know their ages, we can find the sum of their present ages.

Answer 2

sum of their present ages is 5 + 20 = 25 years.

Step-by-step explanation:

The father's current age is 4x (because he is four times as old as his son)

Five years ago, the father's age was (4x - 5) and the son's age was (x - 5)

Ten years from now, the father's age will be (4x + 10) and the son's age will be (x + 10)

From the second statement, we know that:

(4x - 5) = 1.5(x - 5)

And from the third statement, we know that:

(4x + 10) = 1.5(x + 10)

We can solve these equations simultaneously to find the present ages of the father and the son.

Solving the first equation:

4x - 5 = 1.5x - 7.5

2.5x = 12.5

x = 5

So the son's current age is 5 years old.

The father's current age is 4x = 4(5) = 20 years old.

So, the sum of their present ages is 5 + 20 = 25 years.