Karen is twice as old as Lori. Three years from now, the sum of their ages will be 42. How old is Karen?
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12
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6
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24
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15
Let Lori's age be x, then Karen is 2x. In 3 years: (2x+3) + (x+3) = 42. Simplifying: 3x + 6 = 42, so 3x = 36 and x = 12. Therefore Karen is 2(12) = 24 years old. Checking: in 3 years they'll be 27 and 15, which sum to 42.
To solve this problem, let's assign variables to the ages of Karen and Lori.
Let's say the current age of Lori is L years. This means that the current age of Karen is 2L years.
Three years from now, Lori's age will be L + 3, and Karen's age will be 2L + 3.
According to the given information, the sum of their ages three years from now will be 42. So we can write the equation:
(L + 3) + (2L + 3) = 42
Simplifying the equation, we get:
3L + 6 = 42
Subtracting 6 from both sides, we have:
3L = 36
Dividing both sides by 3, we find:
L = 12
So, Lori's current age is 12 years. Since Karen is twice as old as Lori, Karen's current age is:
2L = 2 * 12 = 24
Therefore, Karen is 24 years old.
The correct answer is option C) 24.