SOLUTION: in 1996 Adam was 26years old and his mother was 66 years old, in what year was adam exactly one-third of his mothers age.

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Question 1097152: in 1996 Adam was 26years old and his mother was 66 years old, in what year was adam exactly one-third of his mothers age.
Found 4 solutions by amalm06, Edwin McCravy, josmiceli, MathTherapy:
Answer by amalm06(224) About Me  (Show Source):
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1/3 of 66 = 22.
So Adam was 4 years younger in 1992.

Answer by Edwin McCravy(20060) About Me  (Show Source):
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The above answer is incorrect.  Sorry, Amalm, but the mother was 
YOUNGER THAN 66 before 1996, when Adam was one-third of her age.

In 1996 Adam was 26 years old and his mother was 66 years old.
In what year was Adam exactly one-third of his mothers age.
Let x be the number of years before 1996 that he was one-thid of
his mother's age.

Then x years before 1996, Adam was 26-x
Also x years before 1996, his mother was 66-x

So

26-x=expr%281%2F3%29%2866-x%29

Solve that for x, beginning by multiplying both sides by 3 to
clear the fraction.  That value of x will be the number of 
years before 1996 that he was one-third of his mother's age. 
Then subtract that number of years from 1996 to find what year 
that was.

Edwin


Answer by josmiceli(19441) About Me  (Show Source):
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Let +m+ = mother's age when Adam was 1/3 her age
The difference in their ages never changes
The difference is:
+66+-+26+=+40+ yrs
------------------------
I can say:
+m+-+%281%2F3%29%2Am+=+40+
+3m+-+m+=+120+
+2m+=+120+
+m+=+60+
------------------
+66+-+60+=+6+ years before 1996
which was 1990
-----------------------------------
check answer:
When mother was 60, Adam was:
+%281%2F3%29%2Am+=+%281%2F3%29%2A60+
+%281%2F3%29%2Am+=+20+
and
+60+-+20+=+40+ the difference in their ages
is correct


Answer by MathTherapy(10555) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!

in 1996 Adam was 26years old and his mother was 66 years old, in what year was adam exactly one-third of his mothers age.
Adam being 1%2F3 his mother's age is EXACTLY the same as saying the mother is 3 times Adam's age
Let number of years that the mother was 3 TIMES Adam's age be y
Then, the equation, based on the year 1996 is: 66 + y = 3(26 + y)
66 + y = 78 + 3y
66 - 78 = 3y - y
- 12 = 2y
Number of years that the mother was/will be 3 TIMES Adam's age, or: highlight_green%28matrix%281%2C5%2C+y%2C+%22=%22%2C+%28-+12%29%2F2%2C+%22=%22%2C+-+6%29%29
Now, - 6 INDICATES 6 years BEFORE 1996, which was highlight_green%28matrix%281%2C3%2C+The%2C+year%2C+1990%29%29
ACCEPT no other answer!