SOLUTION: Please help me solve this age word problem: Alice is 2 years older than Bobby who is twice as old as Carol. If the total of the ages of Alice, Bobby and Carol is 27 years, ho

Algebra ->  Customizable Word Problem Solvers  -> Age -> SOLUTION: Please help me solve this age word problem: Alice is 2 years older than Bobby who is twice as old as Carol. If the total of the ages of Alice, Bobby and Carol is 27 years, ho      Log On

Ad: Over 600 Algebra Word Problems at edhelper.com


   



Question 735051: Please help me solve this age word problem:
Alice is 2 years older than Bobby who is twice as old as Carol.
If the total of the ages of Alice, Bobby and Carol is 27 years, how old is Bobby ? Kindly show the steps.

Answer by josgarithmetic(39617) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
a for Alice
b for Bob
c for Carol

a=b%2B2, b=2c, a%2Bb%2Bc=27

Maybe two or more solution processes are possible. Do a couple of substitutions for a least advanced solving method. A fairly logical way could be substitute b into the first equation, use this result for a to substitute into the third equation. Now, substitute the formula for b (from the second equation into the third equation). You now have an equation with only c as the variable. Finish solving.

What I described is this:
a=(2c)+2,
The next substitution is into a+b+c=27,
(a)+b+c=27
(2c+2)+b+c=27
Following that, the next substitution using b is,
(2c+2)+(2c)+c=27
2c+2+2c+c=27
and you can finish this easily(?).