SOLUTION: If Leah is 6 years older than Sue and John is 5 years older than Leah, the total of their ages is 41. How old is Sue? please help!

Question 232387: If Leah is 6 years older than Sue and John is 5 years older than Leah, the total of their ages is 41. How old is Sue? please help!
Answer by ptaylor(2198) (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!
Let x=Sue's age
Then x+6=Leah's age
And (x+6)+5=x+6+5=x+11=John's age
And we are told that the above ages add up to 41, so:
x+x+6+x+11=41 collecting like terms we get:
3x+17=41 subtract 17 from each side
3x+17-17=41-17 collect like terms again
3x=24 divide each side by 3
x=8------------------Sue's age
x+6=8+6=14-------------Leah's age
x+11=8+11=19--------------John's age
CK
Leah is 6 years older than Sue 8+6=14 OK
John is 5 years older than Leah 14+5=19 OK
Their ages add up to 41; 8+14+19=41 OK

Hope this helps---ptaylor
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