SOLUTION: Please help me with the homework. If we add the ages of a mother and her son, the total of their ages is 60.The mother is currently 4 times as old as her son.find the ages

Algebra ->  Finance -> SOLUTION: Please help me with the homework. If we add the ages of a mother and her son, the total of their ages is 60.The mother is currently 4 times as old as her son.find the ages       Log On


   

Question 1186088: Please help me with the homework.
If we add the ages of a mother and her son, the total of their ages is 60.The mother is currently 4 times as old as her son.find the ages
Answer by Theo(13342) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
let m be the age of the mother.
let s be the age of the son.

the sum of the ages of the mother and son is 60.
this gets you:
m + s = 60

the mother is currently 4 times as old as her son.
this gets you:
m = 4s

replace m with 4s in the first equation to get:

m + s = 60 becomes 4s + s = 60
combine like terms to get:
5s = 60
solve for x to get:
s = 60/5 = 12.

m = 4s becomes m = 4*12 which becomes m = 48

the mother is 48 and the son is 12.
the sum of their ages is 60
the mother is 48/12 = 4 times the ages of her son.