Fred, a mathematician, was walking leisurely down a sunny street on a Saturday afternoon when he spotted his colleague Leonard that he had run into not so long ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cHello Leonard, nice to see you again.<\/p>\n
\u201cLikewise, Fred, I see you are well,\u201d replied Leonard, shaking his hand.<\/p>\n
\u201cLast time we met we spoke about my children, Fred. Do you have any children?\u201c queried Leonard.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, I do, I also have three children. I married your old girlfriend Jo Anne after you left for university,\u201d said Fred.<\/p>\n
\u201cReally Fred, glad you two hit it off,\u201d replied Leonard. \u201cI wonder how old your children are.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAs you are a colleague, I will give you the answer in a mental package as you gave me before,\u201d smiled Fred.<\/p>\n
\u201cOk, shoot,\u201d said Leonard.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe sum of the square of the ages of Bill and Mary add up to the sum of twice the product of Mary\u2019s and Leo\u2019s ages plus thrice Leo\u2019s age. When Bill is twice as old as he is now he will be one year younger than Mary at that time and one year older than Leo at that time,\u201d informed Fred with a magnanimous grin.<\/p>\n
\u201cHmm, Fred, a bit muddy, could you give me some more information,\u201d said Leonard.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe sum of their ages when Bill is twice as old as he is now will be 36,\u201d offered Fred.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, that\u2019s better,\u201d replied Leonard, thought a moment and offered Fred the correct ages of his children.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s head over to a fine caf\u00e9 I know of down the street for a nice chat,\u201d said Leonard.<\/p>\n
What do you say are the ages of Fred\u2019s children?<\/em><\/p>\nShare this:<\/h3>