SOLUTION: A man is three times as old as his son. Eight years ago the sum of their ages was 36. What are their present ages?

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Question 618676: A man is three times as old as his son. Eight years ago the sum of their ages was 36. What are their present ages?
Answer by vleith(2983) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
let the mans age today be m. Let the son's age today be s
m+=+3s
eight years ago, the man was m-8 and his son was s-8
%28m-8%29%2B%28s-8%29+=+36
m+%2B+s+-+16+=+36
m+%2B+s+=+52 substitute in the value for m from the first equation above
3s+%2B+s+=+52
4s+=+52
s+=+13 the son is 13 today
His Dad is 3*13 = 39