Mia is 3 years older than Belle, and Deborah is 5 years older than Mia. The sum of their ages is 47. How old is Belle?
m + b + d = 47
m = b + 3 ... d = m + 5 = b + 8
substituting ... b + 3 + b + b + 8 = 47
solve for b
Mia is 3 years older than Belle, and Deborah is 5 years older than Mia. The sum of their ages is 47. How old is Belle?
Let's represent Belle's age as 'x'.
Mia is 3 years older than Belle, so Mia's age is 'x + 3'.
Deborah is 5 years older than Mia, so Deborah's age is 'x + 3 + 5', which is 'x + 8'.
The sum of their ages is 47, so we can write the equation as:
x + (x + 3) + (x + 8) = 47
Simplifying the equation:
3x + 11 = 47
Subtracting 11 from both sides:
3x = 36
Dividing by 3:
x = 12
Therefore, Belle is 12 years old.
To find out how old Belle is, let's break down the information given:
1. Mia is 3 years older than Belle: Mia = Belle + 3
2. Deborah is 5 years older than Mia: Deborah = Mia + 5
We know that the sum of their ages is 47, so we can express it as an equation:
Belle + Mia + Deborah = 47
Now let's substitute the expressions for Mia and Deborah using the information above:
Belle + (Belle + 3) + ((Belle + 3) + 5) = 47
Simplifying the equation:
Belle + Belle + 3 + Belle + 3 + 5 = 47
3Belle + 11 = 47
Subtracting 11 from both sides:
3Belle = 36
Finally, divide both sides by 3:
Belle = 12
Therefore, Belle is 12 years old.