The ages of a mother and daughter are in the ratio 8:5. If the daughter's age now is 15, what was the mother's age 6 years ago?

Answer 1

Let's use algebra to solve the problem.

Let the mother's current age be 8x and the daughter's current age be 5x (since their ages are in the ratio 8:5). We know that the daughter's current age is 15, so:

5x = 15

Solving for x, we get:

x = 3

So the mother's current age is:

8x = 8(3) = 24

Now we need to find the mother's age 6 years ago.

If the current age is 24, then 6 years ago the mother's age would have been:

24 - 6 = 18

Therefore, the mother's age 6 years ago was 18.