SOLUTION: ken is 1 year less than twice as old as his sister. if the sume of their ages is 14 years, how old is ken?

Algebra ->  Absolute-value -> SOLUTION: ken is 1 year less than twice as old as his sister. if the sume of their ages is 14 years, how old is ken?      Log On


   

Question 222891: ken is 1 year less than twice as old as his sister. if the sume of their ages is 14 years, how old is ken?
Found 2 solutions by genioustutor, MathTherapy:
Answer by genioustutor(2) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
x-1+2x=14
x+2x-1=14
(x+2x)=14+1
3x=15
3 3
x=5
ken is x-1yrs
5-1=4yrs
kens sister is 2x
2(5)=10yrs

Answer by MathTherapy(10552) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
ken is 1 year less than twice as old as his sister. if the sume of their ages is 14 years, how old is ken?

Let Ken's sister's age be S

Since Ken is 1 year less than twice his sister's age, then Ken's age is 2S - 1

Since the sum of their ages is 14, then we'll have:

S + 2S - 1 = 14

3S = 15

S = 5

Since Ken's sister is 5 years old, then Ken is highlight_green%289%29 2(5) - 1) years-old.