Question 882708
Let us call Maria's age x. Then, since Carlos is three times as old as Maria, his age would be 3x. The sum of their ages (that is, Maria's age plus Carlos' age) is then x + 3x = 4x, which we know is equal to 56 years. Thus, to find Maria's age, we can simply solve the equation 4x = 56:
4x = 56
Divide both sides by 4: x = 14
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Therefore, Maria is 14 years old. Since Carlos is three times as old as Maria, his age is 3x = 3(14) = 42 years.
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Thus, Maria is 14 years old, and Carlos is 42 years old. =)