SOLUTION: Kyle is 2 years older than Kylie. In 2 years this some of their ages will be 38. How old is Kyle now?

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Question 1146478: Kyle is 2 years older than Kylie. In 2 years this some of their ages will be 38. How old is Kyle now?
Found 2 solutions by Theo, MathTherapy:
Answer by Theo(13342) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
let x = kyle's age.
let y = kylie's age.

kyle is 2 years older than kylie, so x = y + 2.

in 2 years, the sum of their ages will be 38, so x + 2 + y + 2 = 38
combine like terms to get x + y + 4 = 38
subtract 4 from both sides of this equation to get x + y = 34

you have two equations that need to be solved simultaneously.
they are:

x = y + 2
x + y = 34

subtract y from both sides of the first equation and leave the second equation as is to get:

x - y = 2
x + y = 34

add the two equations together to get 2x = 36
solve for x to get x = 18

since x + y = 34, then y must be equal to 34 - 18 = 16

you have x = 18 and y = 16

go back to your two original equations and replace x and y with that to get:

x = y + 2 becomes 18 = 16 + 2 which is true.
x + 2 + y + 2 = 38 becomes 18 + 16 + 4 = 38 which is also true.

the values of x and y are confirmed to be good.

your solution is that kyle is 18 years old now.


Answer by MathTherapy(10556) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
Kyle is 2 years older than Kylie. In 2 years this some of their ages will be 38. How old is Kyle now?
Let Kyle's age be K

Then Kylie's is: K - 2

Their ages summing to 38 in 2 years means that their ages now sum to 38 - 2(2), or 38 - 4, or 34 years

We then get: K + K - 2 = 34

2K = 36

K, or