Michael and Tom are brothers. Their combined age is 20, and Tom is 4 years older than Michael. What are Michael and Tom’s ages?

Question

asked Mar 21, 2020 37.5k views

2 Answers

Dan Monego · Answer 1 · 2020-03-28T05:33:25+0000

Answer:

Micheal is 8, and Tom is 12 years old.

Explanation:

To solve this, we can set each of their ages as a variable. Let's say Michael's age is x.

We know Tom is 4 years older than Michael, so Tom's age is x+4.

We also know that their combined age is 20, so if we add both of their ages, we should get 20.

Solving;

$x + (x+4) = 20\\2x+4 = 20\\2x=16\\x=8.$

So Michael's age is 8, and Tom is 12.