Marla is 20 years older than Angelina. In 5 years, Marla will be 3 times as old as Angelina. What will Marla’s age be in 3 years?

Question

Manish Verma · Accepted Answer

First, let&rsquo;s define our two variables:
M = Marla&rsquo;s age today
A = Angelina&rsquo;s age today
Next, we can write two equations from the information presented in the problem stem.
Since Marla is 20 years older than Angelina, we have:
M = A + 20 (equation 1)
Since in 5 years, Marla will be 3 times as old as Angelina, we have:
M + 5 = 3(A + 5)
M + 5 = 3A + 15
M = 3A + 10 (equation 2)
Next, from equation 1, we can substitute A + 20 for M in equation 2, and then solve for A:
A + 20 = 3A + 10
10 = 2A
5 = A
Finally, we see that Angelina is 5 years old. Thus, Marla is currently 5 + 20 = 25 years old. So, in 3 years, Marla will be 28 years old.