Question

Ben is 20 years older than Daniel. Ben and Daniel first met two years ago. Three years ago, Ben was 3 times as old as Daniel. How old is Daniel now?

Answer 1

Daniel is 10 and Ben is 33

Answer 2

The first thing to do is identify the unnecessary information (that they met 2 years ago).

From there, let's go back three years ago. We'll call Daniel's age x, and Ben's age will be 3x. Ben's age is also equal to x + 20.

3x = x+ 20

2x = 20

x = 10

Daniel was 10 three years ago, and Ben was 30. Now, Ben is 33.