Question

Adele is 5 years older than Timothy. In three years, Timothy will be of Adele’s age. What is Adele’s current age?

Answer 1

The problem statement is missing the fraction (e.g. 3/4, 2/3). Which fraction was intended?

If you want a quick check, here are two common cases:

- If in three years Timothy will be 3/4 of Adele’s age:
Let A = Adele now, T = Timothy now. A = T + 5 and T+3 = (3/4)(A+3).
Substitute A = T+5: T+3 = (3/4)(T+8) → 4T+12 = 3T+24 → T = 12, so A = 17.

- If in three years Timothy will be 2/3 of Adele’s age:
T+3 = (2/3)(A+3) with A = T+5 → T+3 = (2/3)(T+8) → 3T+9 = 2T+16 → T = 7, so A = 12.

Or give the general result: if in three years Timothy will be r of Adele’s age, then
T = (8r − 3)/(1 − r) and A = T + 5.

Tell me which fraction was intended and I’ll give the final numeric answer.