Hello,
Let's call the boy's age "b" and the father's age "f". According to the information given, we can set up two equations:
1) b = (1/4)f (The boy's age is one-fourth of his father's age.)
2) b + 24 = (1/2)(f + 24) (After 24 years, the boy will be half the age of his father.)
To solve these equations, we can substitute the value of b from the first equation into the second equation:
(1/4)f + 24 = (1/2)(f + 24)
Now we can solve for f, the father's age.