Question

Mrs.johnson is 5 times as old as her son. three years ago she was 8 times as old as her son was then. find each of their ages

Answer 1

let age of son = x years and y = age of Mrs Johnson, then:-

y = 5x

and

y- 3 = 8(x - 3)

plug y = 5x into the above:-
5x - 3 = 8x - 24
21 = 3x  
x = 7  

Sons age is 7  and Mrs Johnson's age is 35.