document.write( "Question 1127332: When John was as old as Paul is now, the sum of their ages was 51. When Paul will be as old as John is now, the sum of
\n" ); document.write( "their ages will be 103. John is older than Paul by how many years?
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Algebra.Com's Answer #743731 by FrankM(1040)\"\" \"About 
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\"When John was as old as Paul is now\" \r
\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "The key thing is to understand the set-up.
\n" ); document.write( "Say John is 30, and Paul is 20, the phrase above is the difference in their ages. J-P, or 10 years ago. . And both of them 'were' J-P (or here, 10) years younger. The 30/20 was an example. \r
\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "J+P-2(J-P)= 51 \r
\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "Next is J-P years from now. So we add. \r
\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "J+P+2(J-P)= 103\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "Next, simplify the first eq.\r
\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "J+P-2J+2P=51\r
\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "-J+3P = 51\r
\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "And the second \r
\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "J+P+2(J-P)= 103\r
\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "3J-P = 103 (next, triple the first equation to add it)
\n" ); document.write( "-3J+9P=153\r
\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "8P=256\r
\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "P = 32 and J = 45\r
\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "13 years ago (J-P), P was 19, J was 32, these add to 51.
\n" ); document.write( "In 13 years, P will be 45, J, 58, adding to 103. \r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "You can also see that the way the question is set up, the sum of their ages changes (103-51) years, or by 52. From X years ago to X years hence, we can see that their age difference must be 52/4 or 13. 26 years pass from the point in past to point in future, times the 2 people. Once you see the 13 is true, the set-up can use 13 instead of J-P. \r
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