Answer: Maria is 12 years old, Jonas is 6 years old, and Franklin is 3 years old.
Step-by-step explanation: Let's start by assigning variables to represent the ages of Maria, Jonas, and Franklin.
Let's use the variable "M" to represent Maria's age.
Let's use the variable "J" to represent Jonas's age.
Let's use the variable "F" to represent Franklin's age.
From the problem statement, we know that:
Maria is twice the age of Jonas: M = 2J
Jonas is twice the age of Franklin: J = 2F
Franklin is 2 years less than half of Maria's age: F = 0.5M - 2
We can use these equations to solve for the ages of Maria, Jonas, and Franklin.
First, we can substitute J = 2F into the equation M = 2J to get M = 2(2F) = 4F.
Next, we can substitute this expression for M into the equation F = 0.5M - 2 to get F = 0.5(4F) - 2, which simplifies to 2F = 6 and therefore F = 3.
Now that we know Franklin's age, we can use the equation J = 2F to find Jonas's age: J = 2(3) = 6.
Finally, we can use the equation M = 2J to find Maria's age: M = 2(6) = 12.
Therefore, Maria is 12 years old, Jonas is 6 years old, and Franklin is 3 years old.