Question 267552: Mr. Atkins is 33 years old and Mr.s Speyer is 27 years old. How many years ago was Mr. Atkins 1.5 as old as Mr Spyer was then? Answer by Earlsdon(6294) (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website! Let A = Mr. Atkin's present age (33) and S = Mr. Speyer's present age (27).
x years ago, Mr. Atkin's age was 1.5 times Mr. Speyer's age then.
This can be expressed algebraically as:
(A-x) = 1.5(S-x) Substitute A = 33 and S = 27.
(33-x) = 1.5(27-x) Simplify and solve for x.
33-x = 40.5-1.5x Add 1.5x to both sides.
33+0.5x = 40.5 Subtract 33 from both sides.
0.5x = 7.5 Divide both sides by 0.5
x = 15
15 years ago, Mr. Atkin's age was 1.5 times Mr. Speyer's age then.
(