SOLUTION: Tony is 8 years older than James. In ten years time he will be three times James's current age. How old is Tony now?

Let James' current age be x
Then Tony's current age = 

After 10 years, James will be } years old and Tony will be  years old

From the problem, after 10 years, Tony will be 3 times as old as James is today.

i.e.  =  
Moving x to the Right side,  or 

So, James is  years old now and Tony is  years old now.

Hope this helps. :)

Cheers, 
Ramki.