document.write( "Question 1170959: Patrick is 4 years younger than Charlie. Samantha is three times as old as Charlie and Samantha is half the age of Donald. If Alex is 2 years older than Charlie and all five of their ages total 142, how old is Patrick?
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Algebra.Com's Answer #795830 by greenestamps(13200)\"\" \"About 
You can put this solution on YOUR website!


\n" ); document.write( "The description compares both Patrick's age and Samantha's age to Charlie's age, so it looks as if Charlie's age is a good place to start:

\n" ); document.write( "x = Charlie's age
\n" ); document.write( "x-4 = Patrick's age (4 years younger than Charlie)
\n" ); document.write( "3x = Samantha's age (3 times as old as Charlie)
\n" ); document.write( "6x = Donald's age (Samantha is half as old as Donald, so Donald is twice as old as Samantha)
\n" ); document.write( "x+2 = Alex's age (2 years older than Charlie)

\n" ); document.write( "Now all five ages are in terms of a single variable, so it is easy to write and solve the equation that says the sum of the five ages is 142:

\n" ); document.write( "\"%28x%29%2B%28x-4%29%2B%283x%29%2B%286x%29%2B%28x%2B2%29+=+142\"
\n" ); document.write( "\"12x-2+=+142\"

\n" ); document.write( "You can finish from there....

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