Question

Donald says that my age is three years less than three fourths of my brothers age. Denise says that my age is one year more than three fourths of my brothers age. What are my age and my brothers age.

Answer 1

Answer: there is no solution.

Explanation:

Let x represent my age.

Let y represent my brother's age.

Donald says that my age is three years less than three fourths of my brothers age. This means that

x = 3y/4 - 3

Denise says that my age is one year more than three fourths of my brother’s age.. This means that

x = 3y/4 + 1

3y/4 - 3 = 3y/4 + 1

Multiplying through by 4, it becomes

3y - 12 = 3y + 4

3y - 3y = 4 + 12

0 = 16

Therefore, there is no solution.