A question about a basic word problem

Question

Question:

 

Matthew is y years old.

His wife Jess is 2 years older.

The total age of both Matthew and Jess is 72 years. What is Matthew’s age?

 

Answer:

 

72 + 2 ÷ 2 = 37. Jess is 37. Matthew is 35.

 

My question is why 72 ÷ 2 + 2 = 38 is incorrect while the above answer is correct. If the total age of Matthew and Jess is 72, why are we adding an additional 2 to 72 before dividing, instead of adding 2 to the result? I understand the above is correct, but less why.

Answer 1

y represents Matthew's age

y + 2 represents his wife's age

 

y + y + 2 = 72

2y + 2 = 72

2y = 70

y = 35