The reciprocal of Kavya's age 3 years ago added to the reciprocal of her age 5 years from now equals 1/3. Taking her present age as x years, this reduces to x² − 4x − 21 = 0. How old is Kavya now?

Question

Accepted Answer

7 years. 1/x - 3 + 1/x + 5 = 1/3 clears to x² − 4x − 21 = 0. x = 4 ± √16 + 842 = 4 ± 10/2 = 7 or −3. An age cannot be negative, so Kavya is 7. Check: 1/4 + 1/12 = 3/12 + 1/12 = 1/3.

The reciprocal of Kavya's age 3 years ago added to the reciprocal of her age 5 years from now equals 1/3.
Taking her present age as $x$ years, this reduces to $x^{2} - 4 x - 21 = 0$ .
How old is Kavya now?

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More Class 10 The Quadratic Formula practice

The reciprocal of Kavya's age 3 years ago added to the reciprocal of her age 5 years from now equals 1/3.Taking her present age as x years, this reduces to x2−4x−21=0.How old is Kavya now?

Step-by-Step Solution

Master this chapter in 30 minutes a day.

More Class 10 The Quadratic Formula practice

The reciprocal of Kavya's age 3 years ago added to the reciprocal of her age 5 years from now equals 1/3.
Taking her present age as $x$ years, this reduces to $x^{2} - 4 x - 21 = 0$ .
How old is Kavya now?