Question 1062269

Sean is 26 years old. He is 8 years older than John. How many years ago was Sean's age three time John's age?
<pre>Since Sean is 26, and is 8 years older than John, then John is 26 - 8, or 18 years-old.
Let years ago that Sean was 3 times John's age, be y
We then get: 26 - y = 3(18 - y)
26 - y = 54 - 3y
- y + 3y = 54 - 26
2y = 28
y, or years ago that Sean was 3 times John's age = {{{highlight_green(matrix(1,3, 28/2, "=", 14))}}}
See how easy that was....nothing COMPLEX or CONFUSING!