The sum of the ages of a father and his son is 62 years. 15 years ago, the father was 7 times as old as his son. How old is the son now?
F = 62 - S
F - 15 = 7(S-15)
Substitute 62-S for F in the second equation and solve for S.
To solve this problem, let's assign variables to the ages of the father and son.
Let's say the age of the father is F, and the age of the son is S.
According to the problem, the sum of their ages is 62 years, so we can write an equation as follows:
F + S = 62 --- (Equation 1)
Now, let's consider the second condition. It states that 15 years ago, the father was 7 times as old as his son. We can express this as an equation:
(F - 15) = 7(S - 15) --- (Equation 2)
To find the age of the son now, we need to solve this system of equations (Equation 1 and Equation 2) simultaneously.
Let's start by rewriting Equation 2:
F - 15 = 7S - 105
F = 7S - 90 --- (Equation 3)
Now, substitute Equation 3 into Equation 1:
(7S - 90) + S = 62
8S - 90 = 62
8S = 152
S = 19
Therefore, the son is currently 19 years old.