156k views
2 votes
A mother is now 2 1/2 times old as her daughter Mary. Four years ago the ratio of their ages was 3:1. Find the present age of the mother.

User Yogster
by
7.8k points

1 Answer

6 votes

Answer:

The present age of the mother is 40 years

Explanation:

Let the age of the mother be M and that of the daughter D. Given that the mother is now 2 1/2 times old as her daughter Mary then

M = 2.5D

Given that Four years ago the ratio of their ages was 3:1

The mother's age 4 years ago was

= M - 4

and that of the daughter then was

= D - 4

Hence

(M - 4)/(D - 4) = 3/1

Cross multiply

M - 4 = 3(D - 4)

M - 4 = 3D - 12

M = 3D - 12 + 4

M = 3D - 8

Substitute into the first equation

3D - 8 = 2.5D

3D -2.5D = 8

0.5D = 8

D = 8/0.5

= 16 Years

M = 2.5D

M = 2.5 * 16

= 40 Years

User Garrett Greer
by
8.3k points

No related questions found

Welcome to QAmmunity.org, where you can ask questions and receive answers from other members of our community.

9.4m questions

12.2m answers

Categories