An oil painting is 16 years older than a watercolor by the same artist. The oil painting is also three times older than the watercolor. How old is each? Identify a variable, set up an equation, and solve.
the oil painting is 24 years old
the watercolor is 8 years old
x=y+16
x= 3y
y+16=3y
-y -y
16=2y
/2 /2
8=y
x=(8)+16
x= (8)3
x=24
y+16=3y that is all you need !
2 y = 16
y = 8
3 y = 24
the end
To solve this problem, let's represent the age of the watercolor painting using a variable. Let's call it "x" years.
According to the information given, the oil painting is 16 years older than the watercolor. We can express the age of the oil painting as x + 16 years.
We also know that the oil painting is three times older than the watercolor. So, the age of the oil painting is 3 times the age of the watercolor, which can be represented as 3x years.
Now, we can set up an equation to solve for the age of each painting:
x + 16 = 3x
To solve this equation, we can subtract x from both sides to isolate the term with the variable:
16 = 2x
Then divide both sides by 2 to solve for x:
x = 8
Therefore, the watercolor painting is 8 years old (x = 8 years), and the oil painting is 16 years older, so it is 8 + 16 = 24 years old.