The ages of a mother and daughter are in the ratio 8:5. If the daughter's age now is 15, what was the mother's age 6 years ago?
Let's use algebra to solve the problem.
Let the mother's current age be 8x and the daughter's current age be 5x (since their ages are in the ratio 8:5). We know that the daughter's current age is 15, so:
5x = 15
Solving for x, we get:
x = 3
So the mother's current age is:
8x = 8(3) = 24
Now we need to find the mother's age 6 years ago.
If the current age is 24, then 6 years ago the mother's age would have been:
24 - 6 = 18
Therefore, the mother's age 6 years ago was 18.
To find the mother's age 6 years ago, we need to determine the ratio of their ages 6 years ago.
Let's first determine the ratio of their ages now. The given ratio is 8:5, which means that for every 8 years the mother ages, the daughter ages 5 years.
Let's assume the current age of the mother is M, and the current age of the daughter is D. We can set up the following equation:
M/D = 8/5
Since we know that the daughter's current age is 15, we can substitute D = 15 into the equation:
M/15 = 8/5
Next, we can cross-multiply to solve for M:
5M = 8 * 15
5M = 120
M = 120 / 5
M = 24
Therefore, the current age of the mother is 24.
To find the mother's age 6 years ago, we can subtract 6 from her current age:
Mother's age 6 years ago = 24 - 6 = 18
Therefore, the mother's age 6 years ago was 18.