Question

In four years, phil will be half tims age. two years ago, tim was five times phils age. how old is phil now? (enter the age numerically)

Answer 1

Lets say phil is 4 right now, that means tim is 12. 2 years ago tim was 5 times phils age. That means when phil is 2 and tim is 10, 10÷2=5. In 4 years phil will be half tims age. so when tim is 16, phil must be 8. According to my math, that ahould be correct

Answer 2

Let

x----------> Phil's age now

y--------> Tims's age now

we know that

$x+4=\frac{y+4}{2} \\ \\ 2x+8=y+4$

$y=2x+4$ equation $1$

$y-2=5(x-2)\\ y-2=5x-10$

$y=5x-8$ equation $2$

equate equation $1$ and equation $2$

$2x+4=5x-8\\ 5x-2x=4+8\\ 3x=12\\ x=4$

find the value of y

$y=2x+4\\ y=2*4+4\\ y=12$

therefore

the answer is

Phil's age now is $4$ year old