A ship is twice as old as its boiler when the ship was as old as the boiler is now.
The sum of their ages is 21.
How old is the boiler, and how old is the ship?
Hint
Once you get your head around the wording, I think it’s easy enough. Try and write down the equations for everything you know.
Answer
Here is an age-difference between the ship and the boiler; lets call it D. It will always be the same
SHIP = BOILER + D (1)
The SHIP = 2 * (what the BOILER was) (2)
BOILER NOW = BOILER’s age then + D (3)
SHIP NOW + BOILER NOW = 21 (4)
There are now 4 equations with 4 unknowns which can be solved simultaneously To give :
Ship is 12
Boiler is 9
