# Susan is 11 years younger than Tara. Together they are 27. How old is each of them? Deneb has triple the amounts of stamps as Rick. The difference in the number of stamps they have is 14. How many stamps does each of them have?

## Write the Let/Then and set up the equation solve the equation and solve the following problems.

Jun 20, 2018

For the first question:

Let Tara's age be '$T$', then Susan's age is $T - 11$, and the sum of their ages is $T + \left(T - 11\right) = 27$

I've done the algebra for this one to find the solution, and the second question, below.

#### Explanation:

For the first question:

$2 T - 11 = 27$

Add $11$ to both sides:

$2 T = 38$, so $T = 19$.

Tara is $19$ and Susan is $19 - 11 = 8$ years old.

For the second question, let the number of stamps Rick has be '$R$', then Deneb has $3 R$ stamps.

$3 R - R = 14$

(that is, Deneb's collection minus Rick's is 14: that's what 'difference' means in this context).

So $2 R = 14$, meaning $R = 7$.

Rick has $7$ stamps and Deneb has $21$.