algebra help plzz?

Question

If Leah is 6 years older than her sister, Sue, and John is 5 years older than Leah, and the total of their ages is 41. Then how old is Sue?


8
10
14
19
21
Wouls u plz explain how u got the answer? thank u!

Answer 1

Let

x = sue age

x + 6 = Leah age

x + 11 = John age

41 = Total combined age

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x + x + 6 + x + 11 = 41

3x + 17 = 41

3x + 17 - 17 = 41 - 17

3x = 24

3x / 3 = 24 / 3

x = 24 / 3

x = 8

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Sue age is 8

leah age is14

John age is 19

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Answer 2

Let Sue's age be x. Leah is 6 years older, so her age is x + 6. John is 5 years older than Leah, so his age is x + 11. If the sum of the ages is 41, you have x + x + 6 + x + 11 = 41. This simplifies to 3x + 17 = 41, a straightforward algebra problem.

3x + 17 = 41
3x = 24
x = 8

Sue is 8 years old.

Answer 3

Let Sue's age be x
Leah's age = x + 6
John's age = x + 6 + 5 = x + 11

Sum of ages = 41
x + x + 6 + x + 11 = 41
3x + 17 = 41
3x = 24
x = 8

Sue is 8, Leah is 14 and John is 19 years old.

Answer 4

first, lets say that sue's age = x,
then if leah is 6 years older, her age = x+6
and if john is 5 years older than that, age = x+11

and all of that total = 41
so, x+x+6+x+11=41

add the x's together and subtract the 6 and 11 to get 3x=24
divide by 3, and x=8

Answer 5

ok by using some simultaneous equations you can get:

sue=leah-6 and sue=john-11

Subbing these values in to the equation sue+leah+john=41 separately
we can simplify to get that John is 19.
so taking the eleven years gap off (or subbing johns age in to the other equations) we get that Sue is 8 years old
and Leah is 14 :-)
hope this helps.
if you want a hugley more detailed solution let me know and i'll email you it.
sam x