SOLUTION: Tom is five times as old as his little brother Ben. Together, the some of their ages are 42. How old is each?

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Question 736499: Tom is five times as old as his little brother Ben. Together, the some of their ages are 42. How old is each?
Answer by sofiyac(983) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
Let ben be x years old
then Tom would be 5x years old
Add their ages and make sum equal to 42
x+5x=42 solve for x
6x=42 divide each side by 6
x=7
so ben is 7 years old and tom is 5*7=35 years old