document.write( "Question 887591: A man is 5 times as old as his son. 2 years ago the sum of the squares of their ages was 114. Find the present age of son. \n" ); document.write( "
Algebra.Com's Answer #536760 by Theo(13342)![]() ![]() You can put this solution on YOUR website! x = man's age \n" ); document.write( "y = son's age. \n" ); document.write( "x = 5*y\r \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "2 years ago the sum of the squares of their ages was equal to 114. \n" ); document.write( "(x-2)^2 + (y-2)^2 = 114\r \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "simplify this to get: \n" ); document.write( "x^2 - 4x + 4 + y^2 - 4y + 4 = 114\r \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "since x = 5y, replace x with 5y to get: \n" ); document.write( "(5y)^2 - 4(5y) + 4 + y^2 - 4y + 4 = 114\r \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "simplify this to get: \n" ); document.write( "25y^2 - 20y + 4 + y^2 - 4y + 4 = 114\r \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "combine like terms to get:\r \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "26y^2 - 24y + 8 = 114\r \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "subtract 114 from both sides of this equation to get:\r \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "26y^2 - 24y - 106 = 0\r \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "factor out the gcf of this equation to get:\r \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "2 * (13y^2 - 12y - 53) = 0\r \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "use the quadratic formula to factor (13y^2 - 12y - 53) to get:\r \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "y = 2.53275... or y = -1.60967...\r \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "since y can't be negative, then y has to be equal to 2.53275...\r \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "if i did this correctly, that's the age of his son presently.\r \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "that means the man is 5 * 2.53275... = 12.66377... years old.\r \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "that's not very old to be a father, but that's what the numbers show.\r \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "let's see if they're accurate in terms of the problem.\r \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "2 years ago, the sum of the squares of their ages was 114.\r \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "the man is 12.66377... years old \n" ); document.write( "2 years ago, the man was 10.66377... years old. \n" ); document.write( "square that and you get 113.71617...\r \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "the boy is 2.53275... years old. \n" ); document.write( "2 years ago, the boy was 0.53275... years old. \n" ); document.write( "square that and you get .283828...\r \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "add 113.71617... and .38382... and you get 114.\r \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "even though the ages don't look right, the formulas work out ok so i have to assume those are your answers.\r \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "the father's age is 12.66377... and the son's age is 2.53275...\r \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "you can round those number to whatever number of decimal places less than 5 that you want.\r \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " |