Three linked ages — Problems on Ages Aptitude Question
Three linked ages: A is two years older than B, who is twice as old as C. If the total of their ages is 27, what is… Answer and worked solution on CodeKairo.
- Topic: Problems on Ages
- Section: Quantitative Aptitude
- Difficulty: Medium
- Time target: 90 seconds
Question
A is two years older than B, who is twice as old as C. If the total of their ages is 27, what is B's age?
Options
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
Show the answer and the worked solution
Correct answer: D. 10
Worked solution
- A = B + 2 and C = B/2.
- (B + 2) + B + B/2 = 27 → 2.5B = 25 → B = 10.
- Check: A = 12, B = 10, C = 5, total 27. ✓
Answer: 10.
The idea
Choose the middle person as the variable so both relations are simple. Solving for C would introduce fractions unnecessarily.
Shortcut. C = B/2 should be a whole number, so try the even options: B = 8 gives 10 + 8 + 4 = 22, and B = 10 gives 12 + 10 + 5 = 27.
Common trap. 9 comes from treating B as the middle age and taking 27 ÷ 3; the ages 12, 10 and 5 are not evenly spaced, and B = 9 would total only 24.5.