Final answer:
To find Thomas's age, we set up an equation based on the given information that Huilan's age is two times Thomas's age and their combined ages sum to 48. Solving the equation T + 2T = 48, we find that Thomas's age is 16 years old.
Step-by-step explanation:
The student asks about determining Thomas's age given that Huilan's age is two times Thomas's age, and the sum of their ages is 48. To solve this problem, we begin by defining the variable T as Thomas's age. Since Huilan is twice as old, we can express Huilan's age as 2T. The sum of their ages is given by the equation T + 2T = 48. Simplifying this, we have 3T = 48. Dividing both sides by 3 to solve for T, we get T = 16.
Therefore, Thomas's age is 16 years old.