two brothers, bill and eric, are 4 years apart. And bill is the older of the two. if the sum of the boys ages equals 28, how old is bill and how old is eric?
Let's assume that Bill's age is x years old.
Since Eric is 4 years younger than Bill, Eric's age would be (x - 4) years old.
According to the given information, the sum of their ages is 28.
Therefore, x + (x - 4) = 28
By combining like terms, we get 2x - 4 = 28
Next, add 4 to both sides: 2x = 32
To solve for x, divide both sides by 2: x = 16
So, Bill's age is 16 years old, while Eric's age is (16 - 4) = 12 years old. Answer: \boxed{Bill is 16 years old and Eric is 12 years old}.