Expert: Richard J. Raridon - 12/27/2006

Question
Ok, so here's how it is.  This kid, Bill, is two times as old as Allison was four years ago.  In six years, Allison's going to be twice as old as Bill was four years ago.

This is how I'd set it up:

2(A-4)=B
(A+6)÷2=(B-4)

If that's right, what would you do from there?  I tried it, my friend tried it, both our answers were completely different and completely wrong!  ¦)

Thanks for your help!!!

-Bennett

Answer
Solving it is no problem.  Just re-write the second one as
(A+6)/2 +4 = B = 2(A-4) and solve for A.   However, that doesn't give you an integer which you would expect to get.  I think you actually need A+10 instead of A+6 but that doesn't give you an integer either.  Are you sure you have it stated right?