Question 300708
mrs.montez is 20 years older than Mrs. cooke. sixteen years ago mrs.montez was 3 times as old as mrs. cooke was then. how old are mrs.montez and mrs. cooke now?

let Mrs. cooke's age be x now

mrs. montez's age will be x+20 

16 years ago their ages were x-16 and (x+20)-16

Mrs. montez was 3 times mrs. cooke's age then

3(x-16) = (x+20)-16

3x-48 =x+20-16

3x-x = 48+20-16

2x=52

x=26 that is cooke's age now

Mrs montez's age will be x+20 = 26+20 = 46 years