solve word problem zelma is eighteen years older than her son she was three times as old as he was one year ago how old are they now
To solve this word problem, let's break it down step by step:
Let's say the son's current age is S years. According to the problem, Zelma is eighteen years older than her son, so Zelma's current age is S + 18 years.
The problem also states that one year ago, Zelma was three times as old as her son. To find their ages one year ago, we subtract 1 from their current ages:
Son's age one year ago = S - 1
Zelma's age one year ago = (S + 18) - 1 = S + 17
Since Zelma's age one year ago was three times as old as her son, we can set up the following equation:
S + 17 = 3(S - 1)
Now, let's solve the equation:
S + 17 = 3S - 3 (distribute)
17 + 3 = 3S - S (combine like terms)
20 = 2S (combine like terms)
20/2 = S
S = 10
So, the son is currently 10 years old.
To find Zelma's age, we can substitute S = 10 into the equation:
Zelma's age = S + 18 = 10 + 18 = 28
Therefore, Zelma is currently 28 years old, and her son is 10 years old.