document.write( "Question 573595: hans is 3 years younger than his brother emil. in 8 years the sum of their ages will be 61. how old is hans \n" ); document.write( "
Algebra.Com's Answer #368817 by mathsmiles(68)![]() ![]() You can put this solution on YOUR website! We need 2 variables, one for Hans (H) age and one for his brother Emil (E) age.\r \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "H = E-3. Hans is 3 yrs younger than Emil.\r \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "In 8 years, Hans will be H+8 and Emil will be E+8. \n" ); document.write( "At that time, the sum of their ages will be 61. \n" ); document.write( "(H+8) + (E+8) = 61\r \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "Now substitute (E-3) from above for H in the above equation: \n" ); document.write( "((E-3)+8) + (E+8) = 61 \n" ); document.write( "Since this is all addition, we can remove the parens without any harm. \n" ); document.write( "E - 3 + 8 + E + 8 = 61\r \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "Using the commutative law, let's re-order the terms: \n" ); document.write( "E + E - 3 + 8 + 8 = 61 \n" ); document.write( "2E + 13 = 61 \n" ); document.write( "Subtracting 13 from both sides: \n" ); document.write( "2E = 48 \n" ); document.write( "Dividing by 2 on both sides: \n" ); document.write( "E = 24\r \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "Emil is 24; his brother is 3 years younger, so is 21.\r \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "Let's check out answer: \n" ); document.write( "In 8 years, Emil will be 24 + 8 = 32; Hans will be 21 + 8 = 29 \n" ); document.write( "Adding their ages gives \n" ); document.write( "32 + 29 = 61 \n" ); document.write( "61 = 61 Correct! \n" ); document.write( " |