SOLUTION: Could you please help me with some word problems my teacher has assigned? We were told these were not directly from a math book. Sarah's age exceeds Judy's age by 16 years. Fo

Question 153262: Could you please help me with some word problems my teacher has assigned? We were told these were not directly from a math book.
Sarah's age exceeds Judy's age by 16 years. Four years ago, Sarah was twice as old as Judy. Find there ages now.
I get so confused on these problems I dont know where to begin. Could you help me please? Thank you in advance.

Answer by Alan3354(69443) (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!
Sarah's age exceeds Judy's age by 16 years. Four years ago, Sarah was twice as old as Judy. Find there ages now.
---------
S = Sarah's age now
J = Judy's age now
S = J + 16 (it says that)
Four years ago, Sarah was 2 times Judy's age:
S-4 = 2*(J-4)
-------
Substitute for S
S-4 = 2*(J-4)
(J+16) - 4 = 2*(J-4)
J+12 = 2J-8
J+20 = 2J
20 = J
------
S = J+16, so S = 36

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