Question

The sum of the ages of a man and his son is 45 years. Five years ago, the product of their ages was four times the man’s age at the time. Find their present ages.

Answer 1

Let the present ages of the man and son be ‘a’ and ‘b’ respectively.

Given, sum of the ages of a man and his son is 45 years.

⇒ a + b = 45 .............(1)

Ans, five years ago, the product of their ages was four times the man’s age at the time.

⇒ (a – 5)(b – 5) = 4(a – 5) 

⇒ b – 5 = 4 

⇒ b = 9 years

Thus, a = 45 – 9 = 36 years