Answer:
Harper is 17 and Cadence is 44.
Step-by-step explanation:
First, we can set up an equation to displays the sum of both ages.
Let x = Harper's age and y = Cadence's age
x+y=61
8 years ago, this means the sum will decrease by a total of 16 as we have to subtract 8 from both variables
The equation to represent 8 years ago is: x+y=45
Now we can write another equation to represent Cadence being 4 times older than Harper (8 years ago)
y=4x
We can substitute this back into the equation we had for the ages 8 years ago.
x+(4x) = 45
5x=45
x=9
Now, Harper's age 8 years ago is 9 years old. We add 8 to this number to determine that Harper is currently 17 years old.
We can insert this into the original equation to determine Cadence's age.
17+y=61
y=44
Thus, Cadence is currently 44 years old
