SOLUTION: 1. A man is now 42 years old and his friend is 33 years old. How many years ago was the man twice as old as his friend was then? 2. Paul is 3 years younger than his friend Peter

Question 165032: 1. A man is now 42 years old and his friend is 33 years old. How many years ago was the man twice as old as his friend was then?
2. Paul is 3 years younger than his friend Peter. In seven years the product of their ages will be five more than the product of their ages 5 years ago. How old are they now?
please answer this.. I really need this

Found 2 solutions by ankor@dixie-net.com, Mathtut:
Answer by ankor@dixie-net.com(22740) (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!
I want to do more than answer it, I want to show you how to do it.
:
A man is now 42 years old and his friend is 33 years old. How many years ago was the man twice as old as his friend was then?
:
Let t = number of yrs for this to be true
:
Subtract t from both sides and make an equation:
:
Man, t yrs ago, was twice as old, as his friend t yrs ago
42 - t = 2(33 - t)
42 - t = 66 - 2t; multiply what's inside the brackets
Some basic algebra operations
+2t - t = 66 - 42
t = 24 yrs ago
:
We can prove this
42 - 24 = 18;
33 - 24 = 9
:
:
2. Paul is 3 years younger than his friend Peter. In seven years the product of their ages will be five more than the product of their ages 5 years ago. How old are they now?
:
This problem is impossible, there is no way that the product 7 yrs from now
will be only 5 more than the product 5 yrs ago

Answer by Mathtut(3670) (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!
1. They kind of through a curve ball on this problem... lets call the number of years ago x. and the man we will call A and the friend B. so this is how we write the equation (A-x)=2(B-x) we know that A=42 and B=33 so plug in
42-x=2(33-x) simplify 42-x=66-2x x=24 so the answer is 24 years ago
2.Another curve... something seems to be wrong in the second question: to multiply two ages together in seven years from today as opposed to muliplying those ages 5 years ago and those products only have a difference of 5 is not possible imo
RELATED QUESTIONS
A man is now 42 years old and his friend is 33 years old. How many years ago was the man... (answered by Fombitz)
A man is now twice as old as his friend. Five years ago, a man was thrice as old as his... (answered by fractalier)
1.A man is now 42 years old and his friend is 33 years old. How many years ago was the... (answered by Alan3354)
Four years ago a man was 2 and a 1/2 times as old as his son, but in five years time, he... (answered by josgarithmetic,MathTherapy,ikleyn)
Ten years ago a man was twice as old as his wife is now. The man is now twice as old as... (answered by ankor@dixie-net.com)
A man is 36 years old, and his sister is 29 years old. How many years ago was it when the (answered by solver91311,greenestamps)
ten years ago a man was as old as his wife is now. The man is now twice as old as his... (answered by mananth)
ten years ago a man was as old as his wife is now. The man is now twice as old as his... (answered by lwsshak3)
a man is 38 years old has his son who is 14 years old. how many years ago was the father... (answered by josgarithmetic)