math question for my class

Question

Marie is 9 years older than Richard. Six years ago Richard was 1/2 as old as marie. How old are they now?

Answer 1

Let Marie's current age be x and Richard's current age be y

So, x-y=9....(1)

Six years ago,

(X-6)=2(y-6).....(2)

Solving for both equations..

X=24 and Y= 15