SOLUTION: maria is five years older than Ralph. Richard is twice as old as ralph. The sum of the three ages is 65. How old is each

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Question 1015594: maria is five years older than Ralph. Richard is twice as old as ralph. The sum of the three ages is 65. How old is each
Answer by robertb(5830) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
Let M = age of maria, R = age of Ralph, and R%5Bi%5D = age of Richard.
From the 1st sentence, we get M = R + 5.
From the 2nd sentence, we get R%5Bi%5D+=+2R, and
from the 3rd sentence, we get M+%2B+R+%2B+R%5Bi%5D+=+65.
Substituting the first two equations into the 3rd equation, we get
R + 5 + R + 2R = 65
4R = 60. ==> R = 15, Ralph's age.
==> M = R + 5 = 15 + 5 = 20, Maria's age.
and R%5Bi%5D+=+2R = 30, Richard's age.