Question

John is 4 times as old as Martha. Five years ago the sum of their ages was 50. How old are they now?

Answer 1

hm..

Answer 2

40 divide by 10.

Answer 3

therefore, john is 40 and Martha is 10

Answer 4

That sounds about right. :)
Thank you. <3

Answer 5

What about "Five years ago the sum of their ages was 50." ?

Answer 6

35 + 5 does not equal 50

Answer 7

That would mean we would have to add 5 to each age to get the ages that the two people are at now, wouldn't it?

Answer 8

Ok try that.

Answer 9

*nods*

Answer 10

its easy get John's age as x and Martha's age as y

Then x=4y
sum of ages before 5 years was 50
So now it is 60
x + y = 60
Solving
5y = 60
y = 12
x =48

Answer 11

Okay. Thank you. ^u^

Answer 12

No problem