Question 837543: Jason is 6 years older than his sister. Their mother is years older than the sum of their ages. If their mother is 39, how old is Jason?
Answer by mxgirl22(39) (Show Source):
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Jason is 6 years older than his sister. Their mother is years older than the sum of their ages. If their mother is 39, how old is Jason?
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1.) Get information for problem.
Let j=Jason
Let s=sister
Read first sentence-
Jason is 6 years older than his sister.
So we can say: j=s+6
Read the second sentence-
Their mother is the sum(+) of their ages.
So from there we could say: j+s=Mothers age
Read the third sentence-
If their mother is 39...
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2nd.) Now we know how to set up the equation:
It should be-
(s+6)+s=39
2s+6=39
2s+6-6=39-6
2s=33
2s/2=33/2
s=16.5 <----------------Sisters age
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3rd.) From step 1, we know since Jason is 6 years older than his sister we are going to add. Use the value we got for his sisters age in step 2.
j=s+6
j=16.5+6
j=22.5 <---------------Jasons age
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4th.) Just to check.
Jasons age+Sisters Age=Mothers age
j+s=mothers age
(22.5)+(16.5)=39
39=39
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Jason is 22.5 years old.
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