document.write( "Question 165896: Fred is 3 yrs. older than his sister Mary. In 7 yrs she will be 6/7 of his age. How old are they? \n" ); document.write( "
Algebra.Com's Answer #122279 by midwood_trail(310)![]() ![]() ![]() You can put this solution on YOUR website! Fred is 3 years older than his sister Mary. In 7 yrs she will be 6/7 of his age. How old are they?\r \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "Mary's age now = x\r \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "Fred's age now = x + 3\r \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "In seven years each person will be 7 years older, right?\r \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "Here's how we represent that:\r \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "Mary = x + 7\r \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "Fred = (x + 3) + 7\r \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "We now multiply (6/7) times Fred's age 7 years form now.\r \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "The equation looks like this: \r \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "x + 7 = (6/7)(x + 3) + 7\r \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "We multiply every term by 7 (our LCD).\r \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "Doing so, we get this:\r \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "7x + 49 = 6x + 18 + 49\r \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "We now combine like terms:\r \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "7x - 6x = -49 + 67\r \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "x = 18\r \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "Mary is 18 years old.\r \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "Fred is 18 + 3 = 21 years old.\r \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "Did you follow? \n" ); document.write( " |