Rachael's brother is 33 years old. He is 3 times what Rachael's age was 16 years ago. How old is Rachael?

Question

mathstudent55 · Answer

Call Rachael's age now r, and the brother's age now b.
We are told b = 33
Since Rachael now is r years old, how old was she 16 years ago?

anonymous · Answer

33-16=17

17*3=51

51+16

Therefore she is 67 ? ... Not sure

mathstudent55 · Answer

Rachael's age is r now.
16 years ago she was r - 16.
The brother is now 3 times older than she was 16 years ago
b = 3(r - 16), but we know b = 33, so

33 = 3(r - 16)
11 = r - 16
r = 27

Rachael is now 27 years old.

Check:
If Rachael is now 27 years old, 16 years ago she was 27 - 16 = 11 years old.
3 * 11 = 33 which is her brother's age now.

anonymous · Answer

oh ok thanks a lot @mathstudent55

mathstudent55 · Answer

You're welcome.