Bob's current age is 23 years and Melanie's current age is 15 years. How many years ago was Bob's age twice Melanie's age?
A.) 16
B.) 9
C.) 8
D.) 7
E.) 5
A.) 16
B.) 9
C.) 8
D.) 7
E.) 5
x = number of years ago
23 - x = Bob's age "x years ago"
15 - x = Melanie's age "x years ago"
23 - x = 2(15 - x) {how many years was Bob's age twice Melanie's age}
23 - x = 30 - 2x {used distributive property on right side}
23 + x = 30 {added 2x to both sides}
x = 7 {subtracted 23 from both sides}
D.) 7 years ago, Bob was twice as old as Melanie
To check:
7 years ago, Bob was 23 - 7 = 16
7 years ago, Melanie was 15 - 7 = 8
He was twice as old as her
© Algebra House
