document.write( "Question 1101153: Claire's brother is 3 years older than her. Her mother is 4 times older than her. Their combined age is 57. By constructing an equation, calculate how old her brother is \n" ); document.write( "
Algebra.Com's Answer #715720 by greenestamps(13200)\"\" \"About 
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\n" ); document.write( "With the problem as stated, there is no solution, because the ages all turn out to be mixed numbers. Age problems should have solutions that are positive integers.

\n" ); document.write( "The difficulty is in the statement that Claire's mother is 4 times older than Claire. \"4 times older than x\" means x, plus x 4 more times, or 5x. But trying to solve the problem that way gives ages that are not whole numbers.

\n" ); document.write( "So the statement of the problem should say that Claire's mother is 4 times AS OLD AS Claire -- not 4 times older.

\n" ); document.write( "Once we have gotten past the incorrect statement of the problem, we have
\n" ); document.write( "x = Claire's age
\n" ); document.write( "x+3 = her brother's age
\n" ); document.write( "4x = her mother's age

\n" ); document.write( "Then since the sum of the ages is 57,
\n" ); document.write( "\"x+%2B+x%2B3+%2B+4x+=+57\"
\n" ); document.write( "\"6x%2B3+=+57\"
\n" ); document.write( "\"6x+=+54\"
\n" ); document.write( "\"x+=+9\"

\n" ); document.write( "The brother's age is 9+3 = 12.
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