In September 2010, Mr. P made the following statements about his life:
- I graduated from college and started my teaching career after I had lived 1/3 of my life.
- My daughter Sarah was born after I had lived another 1/7 of my life.
- Two years before she was born, my son Michael was born.
- My daughter Amy was born four years before Michael was born.
- Another 1/3 of my life passed between the birth of Sarah and the birth of my first grandson James.
- Then another two years passed before granddaughter Carrie was born.
- Four years after that, grandchildren Katie and Jackson were born.
- Then in two more years, grandson Ben was born.
- Four years after that, in 2010, grandson Stewart was born.
Can you answer the following questions?
- How old is Mr. P? _____
- How old is Amy? _____
- How old is Michael? _____
- How old is Sarah? _____
- How old is James? _____
- How old is Carrie? _____
- How old is Katie? _____
- How old is Jackson? _____
- How old is Ben? _____
- How old is Stewart? _____
Solution to the Problem:
- How old is Mr. P? 63
- How old is Amy? 39
- How old is Michael? 35
- How old is Sarah? 33
- How old is James? 12
- How old is Carrie? 10
- How old is Katie? 6
- How old is Jackson? 6
- How old is Ben? 4
- How old is Stewart? 0 Years
(he is 7 months old!)
Let x = the age of Mr. P.
Then you can set up the following equation:
1/3 x + 1/7 x + 1/3 x +2 + 4 + 2 + 4 = x
Solving, we obtain
12 = x - 2/3 x - 1/7 x
12 = 4/21 x
so, x = 63 years.