SOLUTION: Claire, who is six years older than her sister Amy, is now three times as old as Amy was four years ago. How old are Claire and Amy now? Please show work if possible

Question 170650: Claire, who is six years older than her sister Amy, is now three times as old as Amy was four years ago.
How old are Claire and Amy now?
Please show work if possible
Found 2 solutions by Mathtut, stanbon:
Answer by Mathtut(3670) (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!
lets call claire and Amy's age, c and a , respectively.
:
c=a+6......eq 1
c=3(a-4)...eq 2
:
take c's value from eq 1 and plug it into eq 2
:
(a+6)=3(a-4)
:
a+6=3a-12
:
2a=18
:
amy's age
:
claire's age
Answer by stanbon(75887) (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!
Claire, who is six years older than her sister Amy is now, is three times as old as Amy was four years ago.
How old are Claire and Amy now?
------------------------------------
NOW DATA:
Let Amy be x yrs. old
Then Claire is x+6 yrs.old
---------------------------------
4 yrs. ago DATA:
Amy was x-4
Claire was x+6-4 = x+2 yrs. old
---------------------------------
EQUATION:
Claire = 3*Amy 4 yrs ago
x+2 = 3(x-4)
x+2 = 3x -12
2x = 14
x = 7 (Amy's age NOW)
x+6 = 13 (Claire's age NOW)
=============================
Cheers,
Stan H.
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