The Age Problem Solving Series

BY CIVIL SERVICE REVIEWER MARCH 27, 2014

One of the common types of word problems in mathematics and in many examinations
is about Age Problems. This series discusses various problem styles involving age
problems and explains in details how they are solved.

The Age Problem Solving Series

How to Solve Age Problems Part 1 discusses simple 2-person problems particularly
present-past and present-future age relationships.
How to Solve Age Problems Part 2 discusses a slightly more difficult 2-person
problems particularly present-past and present-future age relationships.
How to Solve Age Problems Part 3 discusses age problems that involves fractions.
I am planning to write a fourth part for this series in the near future, but for now, I will
focus more on yet uncovered topics.

How to Solve Age Problems Part 1

BY CIVIL SERVICE REVIEWER MARCH 20, 2014
After a series of tutorials on word problems involving numbers, we now move to
learning on how to solve word problems involving age. Age problems are very similar
to number problems, so if you have finished reading The Number Word Problem Series,
then it will be easier for you to solve the following age problems.
Example 1
Benjie is thrice as old as his son Cedric. The sum of their ages is 64. How old are both
of them?

Scratch Work
This is one of those age problems that are very similar to number problems. Lets take
a specific case. If Cedric is say years old, then Benji is years old. This means that
if Cedric is years old, then Benjie is . If we add their ages, the result is .
Solution
Let be the age of Cedric and be the age of Benjie.
Cedrics Age + Benjies Age = 64

Dividing both sides of the equation by gives us .

Therefore, Cedric is and Benjie is year sold.

Check
is thrice and . So, we are correct.

Example 2
Karen is years older than Nina. Five years from now, the sum of their ages will be
. How old are both of them?

Scratch Work
If Nina is years old, then Karen is years older, so her age will be . Five years
from now, both of their ages will increase by as shown on the table below.

Therefore, 5 years from now, the sum of their ages will be equal to

. Now this sum is equal to .

Solution
Let be Ninas age and be Karens age. In 5 years, Nina will be years old
and Karen will be years old.

Now,
Subtracting from both sides of the equation, we have

Dividing both sides by we have

This means that Nina is and Karen is .

Check
is 6 more than and five years from now, . Therefore, we
are correct.

Example 3
Sarah is twice as old as Jimmy. Three years ago, the sum of their ages is 39. How old
are both of them now?

Scratch Work
If Jimmy is years old, then Sarahs age is twice his age, so Sarah is years old.
Three years ago, both are younger by years, so both their ages must be subtracted
by .

Three years ago, the sum of their ages is . So, we add and and equate it
to

Solution
Let be Jimmys age and be Sarahs age.

Three years ago, Jimmy was years old and Sarah was years old.

Three years ago, the sum of Jimmys and Sarahs age is

Adding to both sides of the equation results to

Dividing both sides by , we have

So, Jimmy is and Sarah is .

Check
Three years ago, Jimmy was years old and Sarah was years
old. The sum of their ages was .

Thats all for now, we discuss more problems in the next post.

How to Solve Age Problems Part 2

BY CIVIL SERVICE REVIEWER MARCH 21, 2014
This is the second part of the Solving Age Problem Series. We will continue solving
age problems that are slightly more complicated that the first part. We have already
discussed 3 problems in the first part of this series, so we continue with the fourth
problem.

Problem 4
Simon is four years older than Jim. The sum of their ages is 52. How old is Simon?

Scratch Work
This problem is a sort of review of first part of this series. Simon is older than Jim
by years. So, if Jim is years old, then Simon is years old. The sum of their ages
is . This means that if add and , then the sum is . That is the equation.
Solution
Let be Jims age and be Simons age.

Now,

Jims age + Simons age = 52 which means that

Simplifying we have

Subtracting from both sides, we have

So, Jim is years old. Now, the question asks for the age of Simon. Simon
is years old.

Check
Simon is and Jim is , so he is indeed four years older. The sum of their ages
is which agrees with the given in the problem. Therefore, we are correct.

Problem 5
Allan is times as old as Leah. Five years from now, he will be times as old. How old
is Allan?

Scratch Work
Now, if Leah is, for example, 7 years old, then Allan is years old. This means that
if Leah is years old, then Allan is years old. Five years from now, Leah will
be years old and Allan will be years old as shown on the table below.
Note that $latex $5 years from now, Allan will be three times as old as Leah. This
means that if we multiply Leahs age by , then, their ages will be equal. That is, if we
multiply by , it will be equal to . In equation form,

which is the final equation.

Solution
Let be Leahs age and be Allans age.

Five years from now, Leah will be years old and Allan will be years old.

Now, we multiply Leahs age and equate it to that of Allans

By Distributive Property, we have

Putting all xs to the right and all numbers to the left, we have

Dividing both sides by , we have

So, Leah is years old and Allan is

Check
Allan is and Leah is so he is indeed times as old. In years, Allan will
be and Leah will be . Thirty is indeed three times , so we are correct.

Problem 6
Philip is twice as old as Ben. If is subtracted from Philips age and is added to
Bens age, then their ages will be equal. How old are both of them?

Scratch Work
Ben is years old and Philip is . If we subtract from Philips age, it will be
come . If we add to Bens age, it will be . Now, after the results to
these operations, their ages will be equal or

Solution
Let be Bens age and be Philips age.

So, Ben is and Philip is .

Check
Philip is and Ben is so, he is twice as old. Subtracting from Philips age results
to . Adding to Bens age is . Well, equals , so we are correct.
Word Problems in 1 Variable (Age)
1. If my age four years from now is twice my age four years ago, what is my current age?
-Make a table of values for the Representation:
R: Let x be the Present Age
E: x+4 = 2(x-4)
S: x+4 = 2x-8
12 = x
I: I am currently 12 PRESENT FUTURE AGE
years old PAST AGE AGE
X-4 X X+4

2. Ana give birth to her daughter at the age of 28. Now she is 5 times her daughters age. Find the daughters age.
R: Let x be the daughters current age
E: 28+x = 5(x)
S: 28 + x x = 5x x
28 = 4x
x=7
I: The daughter is 7 years old. AGE AT BIRTH CURRENT AGE

ANA 28 28+x
DAUGHTER 0 x

3. Jack is 5 years older than Tim. If Jacks age 5 years from now is twice Tims age 5 years ago, find their current
ages.
R: Let x be Tims age, and x+5 be Jacks age
E: (x+5)+5 = 2(x-5)
S: x+10 = 2x-10
20 = x
I: Tim is 20 years old and Jack is 25 years old.

How to Solve Age Problems Part 3

BY CIVIL SERVICE REVIEWER MARCH 21, 2014

This is the third part of the Solving Age Problems Series. In this part, we will solve age problems with a
variety of formats and difficulty that are not discussed in the first two parts. We have already solved six
problems in the first and second part, so we start with the seventh problem.

Example 7

Bill is four times as old as Carol. One fifth of Bills age added to one half Carols age is equal to 13 years.
How old are both of them?

Scratch work

Bill is older than Carol and he is four times older. This means that if Carol is x years old, then Bill is 4x
years old. Now, one fifth of Bills age is \frac{1}{5}(4x) and one half of Carols age is \frac{1}{2}x. Add
these together and you get 13. Now, we have an equation.

Solution
Let x be Carols age and 4x be Bills age.

\frac{1}{5}(4x) + \frac{1}{2}x = 13.

Simplifying, we have

\frac{4}{5}x + \frac{1}{2}x = 13.

Since we have a fraction, we can eliminate the denominator by multiplying everything with the least
common multiple of 5 and 2 which is 10. Multiplying both sides of the equation by 10, we have

\displaystyle \frac{40}{5}x + \frac{10}{2}x = 130.

\displaystyle 8x + 5x = 30

13x = 30

x = 10.

This means that Carol is 10 and Bill is 40.

Check

Bill is 40 and Carol is 10. Yes, Bill is four times as old as Carol. One fifth of 40 is 8. One half of 10 is 5 and
8 + 5 = 13. So, we are correct.

Example 8
When a really smart math kid was asked about his age, he said:

I am one fifth as old as my mother. In six years, I will be one-third as old.

How old is the kid and his mother?

Scratch Work

The kids is one fifth as old as his mother. So, if the mother is x years old, then the kid is \frac{1}{5}x Six
years from now, the ages of the mother and the kid respectively are x + 6 and \frac{1}{5}x + 6 as shown
in the table below.

Screen Shot 2014-03-21 at 3.52.25 PM

As the kid said, in 6 years, his age will be a third of his mother. This means that if we multiply his age by
$latex3$, then it will equal the age of his mother. In equation form, we have

3(\frac{1}{5}x + 6) = x + 6.

Now, we write the solution.

Solution

Let x be the mothers age and \frac{1}{5}x be the kids age.

x + 6 = 3(\frac{1}{5}x + 6)
We simplify the right hand side by Distributive Property. This gives us

x + 6 = \frac{3}{5}x + 18

Now, to eliminate the fraction, we multiply both sides of the equation by 5.

5(x + 6) = 3x + 90

Again, by distributive property, we have

5x + 30 = 3x + 90

Putting all the xs on the left hand side and all the numbers on the right hand side, we have

5x - 3x = 90 - 30

2x = 60

x = 30.

So, the mother and 30 and the kid is \frac{1}{5}(30) = 6. A smart kid indeed, giving problems such as this
at age 6.

Check

Left as an exercise.

Example 9
Donna is 6 years older than Demi. One fifth of Donnas age a year ago added to three fourth of Demis
age is equal to Demis age. How old is Donna?

Scratch Work

Demi is x years old and Donna is x + 6. Now, Donnas age a year a go is x + 6 - 1 which is equal to x + 5.
How, one fifth of Donnas age a year ago is \frac{1}{5}(x+5) and one fourth of Demis age is \frac{1}{4}x.

Now, these ages if added equals Donnas age which is x. Therefore, the equation is

\frac{1}{5}(x + 5) + \frac{3}{4}x = x

Solution

Let x be Demis age and x + 6 be Donnas age

\frac{1}{5}(x +5) + \frac{3}{4}x = x

Simplifying, the left hand side by distributive property, we have

\frac{1}{5}x + 1 + \frac{3}{4}x = x.

Now, to eliminate the fractions, we multiply both sides of the equation by the least common multiple of
5 and 4 which is 20. This will result to

\frac{20}{5}x + 20 + \frac{60}{4}x = 20x

4x + 20 + 15x = 20x
19x + 20 = 20x

20 = x

Therefore, Demi is 20 and Donna is 26.