Question

Submit The Johnson twins were born eight years after their older sister. This year, the product of the three siblings" ages is exactly 2258 more than the sum of their ages. How old are the twins?

Answer 1

Solving the equation s × (s - 8) × (s - 8) = s + (s - 8) + (s - 8) + 2258 will give us the age of the older sister. Once we have the sister's age, we can easily find the age of the twins by subtracting 8. The ages must be positive integers that make sense in the given context.

Step-by-step explanation:

Let's denote the age of the older sister as 's', and since the twins were born eight years after her, their age will be 's - 8'. According to the problem, the product of the three siblings' ages is 2258 more than the sum of their ages. We can write this as an equation:

s × (s - 8) × (s - 8) = s + (s - 8) + (s - 8) + 2258

Simplifying this equation, we get:

s^2(s - 8) = 2s + 2250

Now, we have to find the value of 's' that satisfies the equation. Since this is a cubic equation, it can be challenging to solve without algebraic methods or trial and error. Once 's' is found, we can then calculate 's - 8' to determine the age of the twins.

It is important to note that ages must be positive integers, so we look for values that make sense in a real-world context.