document.write( "Question 1174662: Tom is 8 years older than Kristina. In 5 years the sum of their ages will be 64. How old is Tom now? \n" ); document.write( "

Algebra.Com's Answer #800140 by greenestamps(13200) $\"\"$ $\"About$

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\n" ); document.write( "It is good to know how to solve a problem like this using formal algebra. Two other tutors have shown you different ways to do that.

\n" ); document.write( "But you can get valuable mental exercise solving the problem informally, using logical reasoning and simple arithmetic.

\n" ); document.write( "In 5 years, the sum of the two ages will be 64. That means the sum of their current ages is 54.

\n" ); document.write( "Two equal ages with a sum of 54 would be 27 and 27. Starting from there, to get two ages with the same sum of 54 but with a difference of 8 years, add 4 years to one of the ages and subtract 4 years from the other. That gives two ages of 31 and 23.

\n" ); document.write( "So their current ages are 23 and 31.

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