Question

if jean were 10 years older, she would be three years older than shw ould have been if she were four times as old as she was 38 years ago. How old is Jean today?

Answer 1

To find Jean's current age, we define her age as 'J' and create an algebraic equation from the given conditions. Solving the equation reveals that Jean is 53 years old today.

Step-by-step explanation:

The question asks us to solve a word problem involving ages, which is a typical algebra problem in mathematics. To find out how old Jean is today, we need to set up an equation based on the information given.

Let's define Jean's current age as 'J'. The problem states that if Jean were 10 years older, her age would be J + 10. It also states that this age (J + 10) would be three years older than she would have been if she were four times as old as she was 38 years ago. So, we express Jean's age 38 years ago as J - 38 and four times her age at that time as 4(J - 38).

Setting up the equation, we have:
J + 10 = 4(J - 38) + 3

Now, we solve for J:

1. J + 10 = 4J - 152 + 3
2. J + 10 = 4J - 149
3. 3J = 159
4. J = 159 / 3
5. J = 53

Therefore, Jean is currently 53 years old.