The ages of elsa, edna and ellie are consecutive intergers. the sum of their ages is 126. what are their ages?

Consecutive interegers are 1 apart

they are x, x+1, x+2

sum is 126

x+x+1+x+2=126

3x+3=126

minus 3 both sides

3x=123

divide both sides by 3

x=41

x+1=42

x+2=43

the ages are 41,42,43

Lets set up variables

x - elsa ages

y - edna ages

z - ellie ages

From the text we can write equations

y = x+1

z = y+1

because each after elsa is 1 year older than previous of them.

now we write equation

x + y + z = 126

and express our equations above in this one:

x + x + 1 + x + 2 = 126

3x = 123

x = 41

that means that elsa is 41 years old, edna 42 years old and ellie 43 years old.