SOLUTION: If Joshua was a year older he would be three times as old as his brother. His brother is 4. How old is Joshua?

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Question 974858: If Joshua was a year older he would be three times as old as his brother. His brother is 4. How old is Joshua?
Found 4 solutions by lwsshak3, MathTherapy, ikleyn, greenestamps:
Answer by lwsshak3(11628)   (Show Source):
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If Joshua was a year older he would be three times as old as his brother. His brother is 4. How old is Joshua?
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let x=Joshua's age
x+1=3(4+1)=15
x=14
Joshua's age=14

Answer by MathTherapy(10839)   (Show Source):
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If Joshua was a year older he would be three times as old as his brother. His brother is 4. How old is Joshua?

Joshua is: years-old

Answer by ikleyn(53879)   (Show Source):
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.
If Joshua was a year older he would be three times as old as his brother. His brother is 4.
How old is Joshua?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

        The solution in the post by @lwssthak3, giving the answer 14 years for Joshua's age is incorrect.
        The cause is that his setup equation is written incorrectly.
        Below see my correct solution.

let x=Joshua's age
x+1 = 3*4 = 12
x = 12 - 1 = 11
Joshua's age is 11 years.         ANSWER

Solved correctly.

Answer by greenestamps(13355)   (Show Source):
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Joshua's brother's age is 4, so three times his age is 12.

Joshua would be that age (12) if he were a year older, so Joshua is 11.

ANSWER: 11