Question

The ages of three siblings combined is 27. The oldest is twice the age of the youngest. The middle child is 3 years older than the youngest. Write and solve an equation to find the ages of each sibling

Answer 1

Answer:

Youngest Age = 6

Middle Age = 9

Oldest Age = 12

Step-by-step explanation:

Let youngest age be x

Middle one age be y

Oldest age be z

So,

x < y < z

Now lets come up with the equations using the statements.

Three age combined is 27, so we can write:

x + y + z = 27

Oldest is TWICE youngest, so we can write:

z = 2x

Middle is 3 YEARS OLDER than youngest, so we can write:

y = x + 3

Now we replace first equation with 2nd and 3rd, to get:

x + y + z = 27

x + x + 3 + 2x = 27

We can solve this for x:

x + x + 3 + 2x = 27

4x + 3 = 27

4x = 24

x = 24/4

x = 6

Now finding y:

y = x + 3

y = 6 + 3

y = 9

Now finding z:

z = 2x

z = 2(6)

z = 12

Thus,

Youngest Age = 6

Middle Age = 9

Oldest Age = 12