SOLUTION: Rey is half as old as his cousin Ben and 3 years younger than his sister Susan. In 5 years, the sum of their age will be 72. How old is each now?
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Question 1009985: Rey is half as old as his cousin Ben and 3 years younger than his sister Susan. In 5 years, the sum of their age will be 72. How old is each now? Answer by fractalier(6550) (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website! Call their ages now, r, b, and s. Then we have
r = (1/2)b or b = 2r
r = s - 3 or s = r + 3
We also have (in 5 years)
(r+5) + (b+5) + (s+5) = 72
r + b + s + 15 = 72
r + b + s = 57
We can substitute in from above and get
r + 2r + (r+3) = 57
4r + 3 = 57
4r = 54
r = 13.5 years old
b = 2r = 27 years old
s = r+3 = 16.5 years old
