Question

Zachary is 1 year older than his sister, Nicole. Jaycob is

three times as old as Zachary. The sum of their ages is
44. How old are each of the siblings?
a) Define a variable:
b) Write an equation
c) Solve the equation.
d) Answer what is being asked in a complete sentence.

Answer 1

Zachary is 9, Nicole is 8, and Jaycob is 27.

Explanation:

x=Zachary

y=Nicole

z=Jaycob

x+y+z=44

x*3=z

x-1=y

However, for now, let's just assume that x and y are actually the same, and that the answer is actually 45.

so, x*3=z, and y*3 also equals z.

This is so that technically, 45/5=x, because z accounts for 3, and both x and y account for 1 each, meaning altogether it should be 5 you should be dividing by. 45/5=9, so x=9. Now that we have that figured out, we can solve the rest easily. 9-1=8, so there's your y, and 9*3=27. 27+9=36, and 36+8=44.