SOLUTION: Andre came up with the following puzzle. “I am three years younger than my brother, and I am 2 years older than my sister. My mom's age is one less than three times my brother's ag

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Question 1131951: Andre came up with the following puzzle. “I am three years younger than my brother, and I am 2 years older than my sister. My mom's age is one less than three times my brother's age. When you add all our ages, you get 87. What are our ages?”
Try to solve the puzzle.
Jada writes this equation for the sum of the ages: (x)+(x+3)+(x−2)+3(x+3)−1=87. Explain the meaning of the variable and each term of the equation.
Write the equation with fewer terms.
Solve the puzzle if you haven’t already.
Found 2 solutions by joshuajz, josgarithmetic:
Answer by joshuajz(12)   (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!
x = Andre's age

The +9 in this equation is just all of the numbers in your original equation added together.


(x) represents Andre's age
(x+3) Andre's age + 3 (brother)
(x-2) Andre's age - 3 (sister)
3(x+3)-1 Andre's age + 3 to get brother's age. Times 3 subtract 1 to get Mom's age
Answer by josgarithmetic(39617)   (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!
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Andre came up with the following puzzle. “I am three years younger than my brother, and I am 2 years older than my sister. My mom's age is one less than three times my brother's age. When you add all our ages, you get 87. What are our ages?”
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Directly from the description:

Andre            y
Brother          y+3
Sister           y-2
Mom              3(y+3)-1
SUM              87

Self-Explanatory:

Solve the equation and evaluate all the other ages.
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