Question

The ages of 3 brothers are represented by consecutive integers. If the oldest brother's age is decreased by twice the younger brother's age, the result is -19. How old is the youngest brother?

Answer 1

The age of youngest brother is 21.

Explanation:

Given:

The ages of 3 brothers are represented by consecutive integers.

If the oldest brother's age is decreased by twice the younger brother's age, the result is -19.

Now, to find the age of youngest brother.

Let the age of youngest brother be
`a-1.`

Let the age of middle one be
`a`.

And the age of oldest brother age be
`a+1.`

According to question:

`(a+1)-2(a-1)=-19`

⇒
`a+1-2a+2=-19`

⇒
`-a+3=-19`

Adding
`a` on both sides we get:

⇒
`2=-19+a`

Adding 19 on both sides we get:

⇒
`22=a`

Now, getting the age of youngest brother by putting the value of
`a` :

`a-1`

⇒
`=22-1=21.`

Therefore, the age of youngest brother is 21.