Age Word Problem: Find Father & Son's % Difference

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The discussion revolves around a poorly worded age problem involving a father and son, where the father is currently twice the age of his son, and six years ago, he was three times as old. The ages were calculated to be 12 years for the son and 24 years for the father. Participants express confusion regarding the request for a percentage, questioning its relevance to the problem. Some suggest that the question may actually be asking for the son's age six years ago, which aligns with the provided answer of six. Overall, the consensus is that the problem is poorly constructed and lacks clarity.
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Homework Statement


If a father is twice as old as his son. six years ago father was thrice as old as his son. Find the percentage.
A.10
B.12
C.120
D.6

Homework Equations

The Attempt at a Solution


first i am trying to express the equation
f=age of father
s=age of son
f=2s (father is twice as old as his son)
f-6=3(s-6) (6 years ago thrice as old as his son)

I got s=12 years old
and f=24 years old.
what does it mean by percentage here?
 
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alijan kk said:

Homework Statement


If a father is twice as old as his son. six years ago father was thrice as old as his son. Find the percentage.
A.10
B.12
C.120
D.6

Homework Equations

The Attempt at a Solution


first i am trying to express the equation
f=age of father
s=age of son
f=2s (father is twice as old as his son)
f-6=3(s-6) (6 years ago thrice as old as his son)

I got s=12 years old
and f=24 years old.
what does it mean by percentage here?

I don't know; it makes no sense.
 
I agree w/ your answer although it's just ridiculous (problem's fault, not yours) since that would mean the father had the son when he was 12 years old.

I agree w/ Ray that asking for a percentage makes no sense. Did you state the problem exactly as worded?
 
Ray Vickson said:
I don't know; it makes no sense.
If the question is "what is the age of the son 6 years before..
s-6=6
then six would be correct answer?

In the book 6 is the answer for the original question(percentage)
 
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phinds said:
I agree w/ your answer although it's just ridiculous (problem's fault, not yours) since that would mean the father had the son when he was 12 years old.

I agree w/ Ray that asking for a percentage makes no sense. Did you state the problem exactly as worded?
yes exactly it is written like that. but the answer is six so i think it is asking for the age of son six years before
 
alijan kk said:
yes exactly it is written like that. but the answer is six so i think it is asking for the age of son six years before
In that case it is REALLY a horribly worded problem.
 

Thread 'Find the polar form of a complex number'

The working out suggests first equating ## \sqrt{i} = x + iy ## and suggests that squaring and equating real and imaginary parts of both sides results in ## \sqrt{i} = \pm (1+i)/ \sqrt{2} ## Squaring both sides results in: $$ i = (x + iy)^2 $$ $$ i = x^2 + 2ixy -y^2 $$ equating real parts gives $$ x^2 - y^2 = 0 $$ $$ (x+y)(x-y) = 0 $$ $$ x = \pm y $$ equating imaginary parts gives: $$ i = 2ixy $$ $$ 2xy = 1 $$ I'm not really sure how to proceed from here.
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