Question

paul is six years older than corinne. ten years ago twice paul’s age was triple corinne’s age. how old is paul

Answer 1

Paul's age = 6 years + Corinne's age

(Paul's age - 10 years) = 3 times (Corinne's age - 10 years)


Let's rewrite it so it's cleaner:


P = 6 + C
P - 10 = 3(C - 10)


Question is P = ? years.

P = ? = 6 + C

We need to know what C is... the second equation can tell us:

P - 10 = 3C - 30
P + 20 = 3C
P/3 + 20/3 = C

So now we know what C is... we can replace it into the first equation:

P = 6 + [P/3 + 20/3]

we just need to simplify now... it's easiest to get rid of the fractions first:

3P = 18 + P + 20

2P = 38

P = 19

Answer is Paul's age is now 19 years.