Mr Wilson is 15 years older than Mr. Connors. Five years from old Wilson will be times as old as Mr. Connors will be then. How old is each man now?

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Answer 1 · 2018-06-29T20:02:44

See a solution process below:

Let's call Mr. Wilson's current age: #w#

And, let's call Mr. Connor's current age: #c#

From the problem we know:

First, we can substitute #(c + 15)# from the first equation for #w# in the second equation and solve for #c#:

#w + 5 = 2(c + 5)# becomes:

#(c + 15) + 5 = 2(c + 5)#

#c + 15 + 5 = 2c + 10#

#c + 20 = 2c + 10#

#c - color(red)(c) + 20 - color(blue)(10) = 2c - color(red)(c) + 10 - color(blue)(10)#

#0 + 10 = 2c - color(red)(1c) + 0#

#10 = (2 - color(red)(1))c#

#10 = 1c#

#10 = c#

#c = 10#

We can now substitute #20# for #c# in the first equation and calculate #w#

#w = c + 15# becomes:

#w = 10 + 15#

#w = 25#

Mr. Wilson is currently #25# years old and Mr. Connors is #10# years old

In 5 years

Mr. Wilson will be #30# years old and Mr. Connors will be #15# years old