Question

Word Problem: Peter is four years younger than Jose. Manny is three times as old as Peter. If you add together the ages of Jose, Peter, and Manny, the total comes to 44 years. How old are Jose, Peter, and Manny?

a) Jose: 15, Peter: 11, Manny: 18
b) Jose: 12, Peter: 8, Manny: 24
c) Jose: 16, Peter: 12, Manny: 16
d) Jose: 18, Peter: 14, Manny: 12

Answer 1

To solve the word problem, assign variables to the ages of the three people and write equations based on the given information. Solve the equations simultaneously to find the ages of Jose, Peter, and Manny. The correct answer is option b) Jose: 12, Peter: 8, Manny: 24.

Step-by-step explanation:

To solve this problem, let's assign variables to the ages of the three people. Let's say Jose's age is 'J', Peter's age is 'P', and Manny's age is 'M'.

Based on the given information, we know that Peter is four years younger than Jose, so we can write an equation: P = J - 4.

We also know that Manny is three times as old as Peter, so we can write another equation: M = 3P.

To find the ages, we need to solve these equations simultaneously. We can substitute P = J - 4 into the second equation, giving us M = 3(J - 4).

Finally, we can add the three ages together and set it equal to 44: J + P + M = 44.

By substituting the expressions for P and M, we get J + (J - 4) + 3(J - 4) = 44. Solving this equation will give us the ages of Jose, Peter, and Manny.

The correct answer is option b) Jose: 12, Peter: 8, Manny: 24.