The bongo family has three children, including a pair of twins. The third child is 3 years younger than the twins. The sum of the three ages is 42. How old is each?
2x + (x-3) = 42
Solve for x to get twins' age and subtract 3 for 3rd child.
To find the ages of the three children in the Bongo family, let's assign some variables. Let x be the age of the twins, and y be the age of the third child.
From the given information, we know that the third child is 3 years younger than the twins. So, the age of the third child can be represented as x - 3.
The sum of the three ages is 42, meaning that x + x + (x - 3) = 42. Simplifying this equation, we get 3x - 3 = 42.
Now, let's solve for x. Adding 3 to both sides of the equation, we have 3x = 45. Dividing both sides by 3, we find that x = 15.
Since x represents the age of the twins, each twin is 15 years old.
To find the age of the third child, substitute the value of x in the equation x - 3:
y = 15 - 3 = 12.
Therefore, the twins are 15 years old each, and the third child is 12 years old.