Question
- Lindiwe is twice as old as Preeya and six years older than Sue.
Their combined ages total 39 years.
How old is Lindiwe?
Their combined ages total 39 years.
How old is Lindiwe?
Ask by Mejia Lane. in South Africa
Mar 20,2025
Upstudy AI Solution
Tutor-Verified Answer
Answer
Lindiwe is 18 years old.
Solution
Let’s denote the age of Lindiwe as
, the age of Preeya as
, and the age of Sue as
.
Given:
- Lindiwe is twice as old as Preeya:
- Lindiwe is six years older than Sue:
- Their combined ages total 39 years:
We can solve this system of equations to find the age of Lindiwe.
Solve the system of equations by following steps:
Solve the system of equations by following steps:
- step0: Solve using the substitution method:
- step1: Substitute the value of
- step2: Simplify:
- step3: Solve the equation:
- step4: Substitute the value of
- step5: Simplify:
- step6: Move the variable to the left side:
- step7: Add the terms:
- step8: Divide both sides:
- step9: Divide the numbers:
- step10: Substitute the value of
- step11: Calculate:
- step12: Substitute the value of
- step13: Calculate:
- step14: Calculate:
- step15: Check the solution:
- step16: Rewrite:
The solution to the system of equations is:
, ,
Therefore, Lindiwe is 18 years old.
Answered by UpStudy AI and reviewed by a Professional Tutor
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Mind Expander
Let Lindiwe’s age be
, Preeya’s age be
, and Sue’s age be
. According to the problem, we have three pieces of information to set up our equations:
-
(Lindiwe is twice as old as Preeya) -
(Lindiwe is six years older than Sue) -
(Their combined ages total 39 years)
Now we can substitute
and
in terms of
:
From equation 1,
.
From equation 2,
.
Now plugging these into equation 3:
Combining the terms:
This simplifies to:
Adding 6 to both sides:
Multiplying both sides by 2:
Dividing by 5:
So, Lindiwe is 18 years old!