The ratio of the age of a man and his wife is 4:3. After 4 years, this

Question

The ratio of the age of a man and his wife is 4:3. After 4 years, this ratio will be 9:7. If at the time of the marriage, the ratio was 5:3, then how many years ago they got married?

A. 8 years
B. 12 years
C. 10 years
D. 15 years
E. 18 years

CareerGeek · Answer

Present Age of (M , W) = ( 4k , 3k )
--> After 4 years, Age of (M, W) = ( 4k + 4, 3k + 4 )
-->  \frac{4k + 4}{3k + 4} = \frac{9}{7} 
-->  28k + 28 = 27k + 36 
-->  k = 8

Let the marriage happened before ' x ' years
--> Age of (M, W) during the year of marriage = ( 32 - x, 24 - x )
-->  \frac{32 - x}{24 - x} = \frac{5}{3} 
-->  96 - 3x = 120 - 5x 
-->  2x = 24 
-->  x = 12

Option B

yashikaaggarwal · Answer

Let the age of husband and wife be 4x:3x
After 4 years their age will be 9:7
So, the equation will be
(4x+4)/(3x+4)=9/7----(1)
28x+28=27x+36
X=8
So their present age is 32 and 24.
At the time of their marriage their age was in ratio of 5:3
So the equation will be,
(32-y)/(24-y)=5:3 {y is the no. Of years they have been married}
96-3y=120-5y
2y=24
Y=12
OA is B

Posted from my mobile device

GMATWhizTeam · Answer

Solution:  
Let 4x and 3x be the current age of man and his wife
 • After 4 years
•  \frac{(4x+4)}{(3x+4)} = \frac{9}{7} 
 o  28x + 28 = 27x + 36 
o  x = 8  
• The current age of man =  4*8 = 32 
• The current age of man =  3*8 = 24  
Assume that the couple got married y years ago.
 •  \frac{(32-y)}{(24-y)} = \frac{5}{3} 
 o  96 -3y = 120 -5x 
o  2y =24 
o  y = 12 .  
Hence, the correct answer is  Option B.

Archit3110 · Answer

given
m/w=4/3
m=4w/3
m+4/w+4= 9/7
7m+28=9w+36
w=24
and m= 32
so 
now
32+x/24+x = 5/3
solve for x
x= 12 
IMO B

Kinshook · Answer

Given: The ratio of the age of a man and his wife is 4:3. After 4 years, this ratio will be 9:7.

Asked: If at the time of the marriage, the ratio was 5:3, then how many years ago they got married?

Let the age of man and wife be m & w respectively.
and let the number of years before they got married = t years

\frac{m}{w} = \frac{4}{3}  (1)
 \frac{m+4}{w+4} = \frac{9}{7}  (2)
 \frac{m-t}{w-t }= \frac{5}{3}  (3)
t = ?

\frac{m}{m-w} = 4 
 \frac{m+4}{m-w} = \frac{9}{2} 
 \frac{m-t}{m-w} = \frac{5}{2}

\frac{m}{m+4} = \frac{8}{9} = \frac{32}{36} 
m = 32
w = 24

\frac{m}{m-t} = \frac{8}{5} 
 \frac{t}{m} = \frac{3}{8} 
 t = \frac{3}{8} * 32 = 12

IMO B

ccooley · Answer

Ideally, I would have liked to plug in the answer choices. But, because it asks how many years ago they got married, I can't actually do it, since I don't have any actual ages or dates to plug in. We're stuck with algebra

So, let's draw a little timeline to keep everything organized... marriage: husband = 5x, wife = 3x now: husband = 4y, wife = 3y 4 years from now: husband = 9z, wife = 7z We can use the fact that 4 years will pass to set up two equations and solve for y and z: 4y + 4 = 9z (man's age) 3y + 4 = 7z (woman's age) Multiply the top equation by 3 and the bottom by 4: 12y + 12 = 27z 12y + 16 = 28z z = 4 Plug back in: 4y + 4 = 9(4) 4y + 4 = 36 4y = 32 y = 8 That lets us fill in part of the table! marriage: husband = 5x, wife = 3x now: husband = 4y = 4(8) = 32, wife = 3y = 3(8) = 24 4 years from now: husband = 9z = 9(4) = 36, wife = 7z = 7(4) = 28 So, how long ago did they get married? At this point, I'm going to switch to testing the answer choices, to avoid having to do even more algebra. If the husband and wife are now 32 and 24, how many years ago was their ratio 5:3? (a) 8 years ago, the husband was 24 and the wife was 16, for a ratio of 3:2. (b) 12 years ago, the husband was 20 and the wife was 12, for a ratio of 5:3. B is the correct answer (Although it's a good lesson about checking your answers when you write a problem, since this one definitely implies that a 20 year old married a 12 year old... )

luisdicampo · Answer

Deconstructing the Question  
Present age ratio (man : wife) is  4:3 . 
After 4 years, the ratio becomes  9:7 . 
At the time of marriage, the ratio was  5:3 . 
Find how many years ago they were married.

Step-by-step  
Let present ages be:
 	ext{Man}=4k,\ 	ext{Wife}=3k

After 4 years:
 \frac{4k+4}{3k+4}=\frac{9}{7}

Cross-multiply:
 7(4k+4)=9(3k+4)  
 28k+28=27k+36  
 k=8

Present ages:
 	ext{Man}=32,\ 	ext{Wife}=24

Let  t  be the number of years ago they were married.
At marriage:
 \frac{32-t}{24-t}=\frac{5}{3}

Solve:
 3(32-t)=5(24-t)  
 96-3t=120-5t  
 2t=24 \Rightarrow t=12

Answer: 12 years

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