Age Problems Involving More Than One Person

Example:

John is twice as old as his friend Peter. Peter is 5 years older than Alice. In 5 years, John will be
three times as old as Alice. How old is Peter now?

Solution:

Step 1: Set up a table.

  age now age in 5 yrs

John    
Peter    
Alice    

Step 2: Fill in the table with information given in the question.

John is twice as old as his friend Peter. Peter is 5 years older than Alice. In 5 years, John will be
three times as old as Alice. How old is Peter now?

Let x be Peter’s age now. Add 5 to get the ages in 5 yrs.

  age now age in 5 yrs

John 2x 2x + 5
Peter x x+5
Alice x–5 x–5+5

Write the new relationship in an equation using the ages in 5 yrs.

In 5 years, John will be three times as old as Alice.

2x + 5 = 3(x – 5 + 5)

2x + 5 = 3x

Isolate variable x

x=5

Answer: Peter is now 5 years old.

Age Problems Involving A Single Person

Example 1:

Five years ago, John’s age was half of the age he will be in 8 years. How old is he now?

Solution:

Step 1: Let x be John’s age now. Look at the question and put the relevant expressions above it.

Step 2: Write out the equation.

Isolate variable x

Answer: John is now 18 years old.

"Age" Word Problems (page 1 of 2)
In January of the year 2000, I was one more than eleven times as old as my son William. In January of
2009, I was seven more than three times as old as him. How old was my son in January of 2000?

Obviously, in "real life" you'd have walked up to my kid and and asked him how old he was, and he'd have
proudly held up three grubby fingers, but that won't help you on your homework. Here's how you'd figure
out his age for class:

First, name things and translate the English into math: Let "E " stand for my age in 2000, and let "W "
stand for William's age. Then E = 11W + 1 in the year 2000 (from "eleven times as much, plus another
one"). In the year 2009 (nine years after the year 2000), William and I will each be nine years older, so
our ages will be E + 9 and W + 9. Also, I was seven more than three times as old as William was, so E +
9 = 3(W + 9) + 7 = 3W + 27 + 7 = 3W + 34. This gives you two equations, each having two variables:

E = 11W + 1
E + 9 = 3W + 34

If you know how to solve systems of equations, you can proceed with those techniques. Otherwise, you
can use the first equation to simplify the second: since E = 11W + 1, plug "11W + 1 " in for "E " in the
second equation:

E + 9 = 3W + 34
(11W + 1) + 9 = 3W + 34
11W – 3W = 34 – 9 – 1
8W = 24
W=3

Remember that the problem did not ask for the value of the variable W; it asked for the age of a person.
So the answer is: William was three years old in January of 2000.

The important steps above were to set up the variables, labelling them all clearly with their definitions, and
then to increment the variables by the required amount (in this case, by 9) to reflect the passage of time.
Don't try to use the same expression to stand for two different things. If " E " stands for my age in 2000,
then "E " can not also stand for my age in 2009. Make sure that you are very explicit about this when you
set up your equations; write down the two sets of information (our ages at the first time, and then our ages
at the second time) as two distinct situations.

 In three more years, Miguel's grandfather will be six times as old as Miguel was last year.
When Miguel's present age is added to his grandfather's present age, the total is 68. How
old is each one now?   Copyright © Elizabeth Stapel 1999-2009 All Rights Reserved

This exercise refers not only to their present ages, but also to both their ages last year and their
ages in three years, so labelling will be very important. I will label Miguel's present age as " m"
 and his grandfather's present age as "g". Then m + g = 68. Miguel's age "last year" was m – 1.
His grandfather's age "in three more years" will be g + 3. The grandfather's "age three years from
now" is six times Miguel's "age last year" or, in math:

g + 3 = 6(m – 1)

This gives me two equations with two variables:

m + g = 68
g + 3 = 6(m – 1)

Solving the first equation, I get m = 68 – g. (Note: It's okay to solve for "g = 68 – m", too. The
problem will work out a bit differently in the middle, but the answer will be the same at the end.) I'll
plug "68 – g" into the second equation in place of "m":

g + 3 = 6m – 6
g + 3 = 6(68 – g) – 6
g + 3 = 408 – 6g – 6
g + 3 = 402 – 6g
g + 6g = 402 – 3
7g = 399
g = 57

Since "g" stands for the grandfather's current age, then the grandfather is 57 years old. Since
m + g = 68, then m = 11, and Miguel is presently eleven years old.

 One-half of Heather's age two years from now plus one-third of her age three years ago is
twenty years. How old is she now?

This problem refers to Heather's age two years in the future and three years in the past. So I'll
pick a variable and label everything clearly:

age now:  H
age two years from now:  H + 2
age three years ago:  H – 3

Now I need certain fractions of these ages:

one-half of age two years from now:  ( 1/2 )(H + 2) = H/2 + 1

one-third of age three years ago:  ( 1/3 )(H – 3) = H/3 – 1

The sum of these two numbers is twenty, so I'll add them and set this equal to 20:
H
/2 + 1 + H/3 – 1 = 20
H
/2 + H/3 = 20
3H + 2H = 120
 5H = 120
H = 24

Heather is 24 years old.

Note: Remember that you can always check your answer to any "solving" exercise by plugging that
answer back into the original problem. If Heather is 24 now, then she will be 26 in two years, half of which
is 13, and she was 21 three years ago, a third of which is 7. Adding, I get 13 + 7 = 20, so the solution
works.

"Age" Word Problems (page 2 of 2)

"Here lies Diophantus," the wonder behold . . .
Through art algebraic, the stone tells how old:
"God gave him his boyhood one-sixth of his life,
One twelfth more as youth while whiskers grew rife;
And then yet one-seventh ere marriage begun;
In five years there came a bouncing new son.
Alas, the dear child of master and sage
After attaining half the measure of his fathers life
chill fate took him.
After consoling his fate by this science of numbers
for four years, he ended his life."

Find Diophantus' age at death.

My first task is to "translate" the poetry from the headstone into practical terms:

o "Boyhood" can stand for pre-adolscent childhood; he spent one-sixth of his life in this
period.
o "Youth while whiskers grew" can stand for pubescence (the teenage years, into young
adulthood); he spent one-twelfth of his life in this period.
o "Ere marriage began" can stand for "unmarried adulthood" or "bachelorhood"; he spent
one-seventh of his life in this period.
o He had five years between the wedding and the time his first child was born.
o Tragically, this child died young, living only half as long as his father eventually would;
looked at the other way, half of Diophantus' life was spent while his child was alive.
o Diophantus died four years after burying his child.

I will let d stand for Diophantus' age at death. Then:

childhood: d/6
adolescence: d/12
bachelorhood: d/7
childless marriage:  5
age of child at death: d/2
life after child's death:  4
 His whole life had been divided into intervals which, when added together, give the sum of his life.
So I'll add the lengths of those periods, set their sum equal to his (as-yet unknown) total age, and
solve:   Copyright © Elizabeth Stapel 1999-2009 All Rights Reserved

.d/6 + d/12 + d/7 + 5 + d/2 + 4 = d

( 25/28 )d + 9 = d
9 = d – ( 25/28 )d
9 = ( 3/28 )d
84 = d

Diophantus lived to be 84 years old.

You can check the answer if you like, by plugging "84" into the original problem. If he lived to be 84, then
one-sixth of his life is 14 years, one-twelfth of his life is 7 years (so he'd be 21, and he certainly should
have a beard by this age), one-seventh of his life is 12 years (so he didn't marry until he was 33 years
old), his child was born when he was 38, the boy died at 42 (when Diophantus was 80), and then
Diophantus died four years later.