document.write( "Question 144721: A DOUBLE BIRTHDAY:\r
\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "\"Your birthday today and also your son's! That's amazing. How old is he now?\"
\n" ); document.write( "Bob smiled. \"I'll tell you with fractions. One over his age, plus one over my age, makes one over seven. That's one-seventh, of course.\"\r
\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "So what were their respective ages?
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Algebra.Com's Answer #105457 by solver91311(24713)\"\" \"About 
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
The given relationship, if the son's age is \"x\" and the father's age is \"y\", is \"%281%2Fx%29%2B%281%2Fy%29=1%2F7\".\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "Solving for y we get: \"y=7x%2F%28x-7%29\"\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "We also know that since today is their mutual birthday, their ages must be integers.\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "We also know that the father's age cannot be a negative number and we cannot divide by zero, therefore the son's age must be an integer greater than or equal to 8.\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "Let's try 8: \"y=7%288%29%2F%288-7%29=56\". 56 is an integer, so age 8 for the son, and 56 for the father is a solution. But are there any others?\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "Let's try 9: \"y=7%289%29%2F%289-7%29=63%2F2\". Not an integer AND smaller than 56\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "Let's try 10: \"y=7%2810%29%2F%2810-7%29=70%2F3\". Not an integer and smaller than \"63%2F2\"\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "Ah hah! As the son's possible age increases, the father's possible age decreases. This suggests an upper limit to the son's age -- after all, the father must be older than his son (discounting any weird genetic engineering or travel near the speed of light scenarios).\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "Let's try 14: \"y=7%2814%29%2F%2814-7%29=14\". An integer, but impossible because both the father and son could not have been born on the same day.\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "You can check out 11, 12, and 13 as potential ages for the son.
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