Maria has three children. There is two years age difference between each child. The total ages of all three children is 36 years. Rosa is the oldest child. How old is Rosa?

Question

mathstudent55 · Answer

If you represent the age of the youngest as a, the next older one is 2 years older, so her age is a + 2. The oldest one is 2 years older than that or a + 2 + 2 or a + 4. You know the sum of the ages is 36, so you have 
a + a + 2 + a + 4 = 36
Solve for a. a will be the age of teh youngest one. To get Rosa's age, add 4 to a.