SOLUTION: Dorothy is 6 years older than Ricardo. The product of their present ages is twice what the product of their ages was 6 years ago. How old is Dorothy?

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Question 205244This question is from textbook Mathematics in our world
: Dorothy is 6 years older than Ricardo. The product of their present ages is twice what the product of their ages was 6 years ago. How old is Dorothy? This question is from textbook Mathematics in our world

Answer by ptaylor(2198) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!

Let x=Dorothy's age; x-6=Dorothy's age 6 years ago
Then x-6=Ricardo's age; x-12=Ricardo's age 6 years ago
Now we are told that:
x(x-6)=2(x-6)(x-12) divide each side by x-6 (assuming that x is not equal to zero)
x=2(x-12) or
x=2x-24 subtract 2x from each side
x-2x=2x-2x-24
-x=-24
x=24--------------------------Dorothy's current age
x-6=24-6=18-------------------Ricardo's current age
CK
24*18=2*18*12 or
24=2*12
24=24

Hope this helps---ptaylor