Question

how do I make jonathan te subject of an equation if molly and louise are twins(his sisters) and he is four years younger? their total ages are 17 years

Answer 1

let molly n louise age(twin)=x (both have same age)
jonathan age=x-4 ( Mr. J is 4 year younger)
Now, x+x+x-4=17 (Total age)
That's it.

Answer 2

let x+x=2x represent the age of Molly and Louise so and y =x-4 is the age of Jonathan and you know again that their total ages are 17 years

so this mean that 2x+y=17 and you know again that y =x-4
so 2x+x-4=17
so 3x=21

x=7

y=x-4

y=3

hope this is understandably and this will help you

Answer 3

"make Jonathan the subject of the equation"
Let x represent Jonathan's age.
He is 4 years younger than his sisters. That means the sisters are 4 years older than him. Therefore each twin sister must be (x + 4) years old.

Sum of their ages = x + (x+4) + (x+4) = 17 or 3x + 8 = 17 is the equation.

If you are asked to solve the equation:
3x + 8 = 17
subtract 8 from both sides
3x = 17 - 8
3x = 9
divide both sides by 3
x = 3.
So Jonathan is 3 years old and his sisters are each (x+4 = 3+4 =) 7 years old.