Andre came up with the following puzzle “I am three years younger than my brother and I am 2 years older than my sister. My moms age is one less than three times my brothers age. When you add all our ages you get 87. What are our ages?

1 answer

Let's solve the puzzle step by step.
Let's say the age of Andre's brother is x years.
According to the puzzle, Andre is three years younger than his brother, so Andre's age is (x - 3) years.
Andre is also two years older than his sister, so Andre's sister's age is (x - 3) - 2 = (x - 5) years.
Andre's mom's age is one less than three times Andre's brother's age, so Andre's mom's age is (3x - 1) years.
The sum of their ages is given as 87, so we can write the equation as:
x + (x - 3) + (x - 5) + (3x - 1) = 87
Combining like terms, we have:
6x - 9 = 87
Adding 9 to both sides of the equation, we get:
6x = 96
Dividing both sides by 6, we find:
x = 16
Therefore, Andre's brother's age is 16 years.
Andre's age is (16 - 3) = 13 years.
Andre's sister's age is (16 - 5) = 11 years.
Andre's mom's age is (3 * 16 - 1) = 47 years.
So, Andre is 13 years old, his brother is 16 years old, his sister is 11 years old, and his mom is 47 years old.