SOLUTION: Mrs. Johnson is 3 times as old as her son. Ten years ago she was 5 times as old as her son was then. Find each of their ages.

Question 269775: Mrs. Johnson is 3 times as old as her son. Ten years ago she was 5 times as old as her son was then. Find each of their ages.
Answer by Stitch(470) (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!
Set Up:
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Let Mrs. Johson's age = A
Let the son's age = B
Equation 1: (She is tree times as old as here son)
Equation 2: (She was 5 times as old 10 years ago)
Solution:
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We can substitute 3B into equation 2 for A
Equation 2:
Simplify
Subtract 3B from both sides
Add 50 to both sides
Simplify
Divide both sides by 2

Now we can plug 20 into equation 1 for B
Equation 1:

Check you Answers
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Plug you values back into both equations to check them
Equation 1:

Equation 2:

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