The present ages of three persons in proportions 6 : 6 : 8. Six years ago, the sum of their ages was 62. Find their present ages (in years)?

Answer 1

To get away from the difficult "ratio" 6:6:8, you introduce a variable "a" (multiplier)

and make the present ages 6*a, 6*a, 8*a. It obviously will get you the desired proportion as "a" will cancel out:

6*a : 6*a : 8*a

And now the equation for 6 years ago.

Ages were 6a-6, 6a-6 and 8a-6

In total

(6a-6) + (6a-6) + (8a-6) = 62

You solve it for a, and then plug it in to get ages 6*a 6*a and 8*a