Question 97904
If you want to find out their ages in the past, then you subtract x years from their current age. 


So x years ago, Kaylene was {{{30-x}}} years old. Since Kaylene was twice as old as Jessica, this means if you multiply Jessicas age x years ago by 2 you'll get Kaylene's age. In other words, Jessica was {{{2(22-x)=44-2x}}} years old



{{{30-x=44-2x}}} Set up the translated equation


{{{-x=44-2x-30}}}Subtract 30 from both sides



{{{-x+2x=44-30}}} Add 2x to both sides



{{{x=44-30}}} Combine like terms on the left side



{{{x=14}}} Combine like terms on the right side


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Answer:

So our answer is {{{x=14}}} 



So 14 years ago, Kaylene was {{{30-14=16}}} years old and Jessica was {{{22-14=8}}} years old


Here we can see that 14 years ago Kaylene is twice as old as Jessica. So our answer is confirmed.