Question 422111
Let L = Leah's age, S = Sue's age, and J = John's age



So because "Leah is 6 years older than Sue", we know that L = S+6 (ie add 6 years to Sue's age to get Leah's age)



Since "John is 5 years older than Leah", we also know that J = L+5



Finally, we know that "the total of their ages is 41", which tells us that L + S + J = 41



So simply plug in J = L+5 to get


L + S + (L+5) = 41


L + S + L + 5 = 41



Now plug in L = S + 6 to get


(S+6) + S + (S+6) + 5 = 41


S + 6 + S + S + 6 + 5 = 41



Now let's solve for S



S + 6 + S + S + 6 + 5 = 41


3S + 17 = 41


3S = 41 - 17


3S = 24


S = 24/3


S = 8



So Sue is 8 years old (since S = 8 )



So Leah is L = S+6 = 8+6 = 14 years old (since L = 14)



And John is J = L + 5 = 14 + 5 = 19 years old.



Notice that the sum of their ages is



8+14+19 = 22+19 = 41



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