Question

(Algebra 1 Equivalent equations)

In a family, the middle child is 5 years older than the youngest child.

Tyler thinks the relationship between the ages of the ages of the children can be described with 2m-2y=10, where m is the age of the middle child and y is the age of the youngest.

Explain why Tyler is right.

Answer 1

Let the middle child is m and youngest is y.

The middle child is 5 years older than the youngest child, it can be shown as:

• m - y = 5

Tyler's equation is equivalent to ours since it can be obtained by multiplying both sides of our equation by 2:

• 2(m - y) = 2*5
• 2m - 2y = 10 ⇔ m - y = 5

So Tyler is right.