SOLUTION: Five years ago a girl was one-half as old as her brother was then and now she is three years younger than he is. Find their present ages. Please explain how you arrived at the a

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let x="girl's present age" and y="brother's present age"

"Five years ago a girl was one-half as old as her brother was then"
__ 2(x-5)=y-5 __ 2x-10=y-5 __ 2x-5=y

"now she is three years younger than he is" __ x=y-3

substituting __ x=(2x-5)-3 __ x=2x-8 __ x+8=2x