Question 1180714
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The statement of the problem is faulty.  Age problems should have whole number answers; this one does not.<br>
There is also a problem with the statement that the father is "3 times older than" his son.  That is a phrase that is almost always used incorrectly to mean that if the son's age is x then the father's age is 3x.<br>
But "3 times older than his son" means the son's age, x, PLUS "3 times more" his son's age (3x), making "3 times older than x" equal to x+3x=4x.<br>
Note that is similar to an increase of 300% in a number making the number 4 times as big as it was previously.  The original 100% of the number, plus the increase of 300%, makes a total that is 400% of the original number.<br>
The statement of a math problem should NEVER use the phrase " 3 times older than" or "5 times larger than", because the intended meaning is almost never the correct meaning.<br>
This problem is especially badly created, in that the solutions are not whole numbers with EITHER interpretation of the given information....<br>