SOLUTION: A man is nine times as old as his son. In nine years, he will only be three times as old as his son. How old are each now?

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Question 291249: A man is nine times as old as his son. In nine years, he will only be three times as old as his son. How old are each now?
Answer by Fombitz(32388) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
Let M be the man's age, S be the son's.
Right now,
1.M=9S
In 9 years, the man will be M+9 and his son will be S+9.
2.M%2B9=3%28S%2B9%29
Substitute for M in eq. 2 using eq. 1 and solve for S.
M%2B9=3%28S%2B9%29
9S%2B9=3S%2B27
6S=18
S=3
Now go back to eq. 1,
M=9S
M=9%283%29
M=27
Today, the man is 27 years old and his son is 3 years old.