SOLUTION: Ben wanted to know how old his friend Mr. Stone was. Mr. Stone told him, "I started school when I was 4-1/2 year old, and I stayed at the same school for 1/6 of my life. I was in

Question 23887: Ben wanted to know how old his friend Mr. Stone was. Mr. Stone told him, "I started school when I was 4-1/2 year old, and I stayed at the same school for 1/6 of my life. I was in the army 1/5 of my life and when I left the army I spent 1/4 of my life as a clerk. Now I have spent 1/3 of my life in retirement." How old is Mr. Stone?
Answer by Sridi(6) (Show Source):
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For such problems, use a variable for the age. Call it x.
Currently Mr. Stone is x yrs old.
He was 4.5 yrs old when he started school.---- 4.5
For 1/6 of his life , he was in school ------
in the army 1/5 of my life --------
1/4 of my life as a clerk ----------
spent 1/3 of my life in retirement -----
That was his life to date. whatever he has done in life thus far must = his age.
x =
Now this is a fraction simplification problem.
The LCD for 6, 5, 4 and 3 is 60
therefore
is now written as

Plug this back in the first equation
x =
Subtract 57x/60 from both sides.

x = 90 years.