Math age problem confusion, please help!

Question

Tom and Jerry's ages add up to 95. Their difference in ages is 19. Find their ages.

Answer 1

Let's use the variable t to represent Tom's age and the variable j to represent Jerry's age.

We can write the following equations to represent the sum and difference described in the problem:

t + j = 95

t - j = 19

Then we can combine these two equations and solve for Tom's age first:

t + j = 95

t - j = 19

2t = 114

t = 57

Tom is 57 years old.

Then since the difference of their ages is 19, Jerry will be 38 years old (57 - 19 = 38).