SOLUTION: Norman is 4 times as old his brother Nicholas. Their combined age is 15. How old is each boy?

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Question 874582: Norman is 4 times as old his brother Nicholas. Their combined age is 15. How old is each boy?



Answer by mxgirl22(39)   (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!

Norman is 4 times as old his brother Nicholas. Their combined age is 15. How old is each boy?
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Step 1.) Label

Let Norman: N (Note: Norman is capital N)

Let Nicholas: n (Note: Nicholas is lower case n)

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Step 2.) Look for keywords.
Norman is(=) 4 times(4x) as old his brother Nicholas(n).
Their combined(+) age is(=) 15.

Norman=
Nicholas=n
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Step 3.) Using the information we got in step 2, set up the equation.



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Step 4.) Solve for "n" (Nicholas's age)






Nicholas is 3 years old.
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Step 5.) Now that we know Nicholas's age, we can find Norman's age.

Using the answer in step 4) we know n=3

In step 2) we found out that Norman's age is: N=

So now plug in n=3 into the equation to solve for Norman's age.

N=

N=

N=12

Norman is 12 years old.

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Step 6.) Check.

Remember,

Let Norman: N (Note: Norman is capital N)


Let Nicholas: n (Note: Nicholas is lower case n)







Checks!
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Step 7.) Answer.

Norman is 12 years old and Nicholas is 3 years old.

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