SOLUTION: The ratio of age of a man and his wife is 4:3 ...at the time of marriage, the ratio was 5:3 and after 4 yrs the ratio will become 9:7... How many yrs ago were they married?

Algebra.Com
Question 977409: The ratio of age of a man and his wife is 4:3 ...at the time of marriage, the ratio was 5:3 and after 4 yrs the ratio will become 9:7... How many yrs ago were they married?



Answer by Edwin McCravy(20056)   (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!
The ratio of age of a man and his wife is 4:3 ...at the time of marriage, the ratio was 5:3 and after 4 yrs the ratio will become 9:7... How many yrs ago were they married?
Let the number of years ago they were married be y years ago.

The ratio of age of a man and his wife is 4:3
So there is some number k, so that the man's age is now 4k 
and the wife's age is now 3k 

...at the time of marriage, the ratio was 5:3








and after 4 yrs the ratio will become 9:7...








Substitute that in 






Answer:  12 years ago.

Checking:

The man is 4k = 4(8) = 32
The wife is 3k = 3(8) = 24

The ratio of age of a man and his wife is 4:3
32/24 = 4/3, that checks.

...at the time of marriage, the ratio was 5:3
They married 12 years ago when he was 20 and she was only 12. (WOW!)

20/12 = 5/3, that checks.  (WOW!!)

and after 4 yrs the ratio will become 9:7...
He will be 36 and she will be 28

36/28 = 9/7, that checks.

That's correct but I think it's terrible that your teacher would assign 
a problem that implies that a girl was married at age 12, even if it is
only a math problem !!!  

Edwin

RELATED QUESTIONS

The ratio of the age of a gentleman and his wife is 4 : 3. After 4 years this ratio will... (answered by richwmiller)
the ratio of the ages of a husband and his wife is 4:3. after 4 years this ratio will be... (answered by mananth)
a man is older than his wife by 3 years. 5 years ago the ratio of their age is 4:3, find... (answered by ankor@dixie-net.com,greenestamps)
A man is now 55 years old, and his wife is 45 years old. How many years ago was the ratio (answered by josmiceli)
A man left $72,000 to his wife and son. The ratio of the wife's share to the son's was... (answered by fractalier)
3 YEARS AGO THE RATIO OF THE AGE OF A FATHER AND HIS DAUGHTER WAS 4:1. AFTER 5 YEARS THE... (answered by Edwin McCravy)
if the present age of a husband and wife are in the ratio of 5:4, what would the ratio of (answered by KMST)
A man who is 3 years elder than his wife and 4 times elder than his son.After 3 yrs the... (answered by Boreal)
the present age of a man is three times that of his son six years ago.the age of man was... (answered by lwsshak3)