mr. mason is four years younger than his brother. five years from now the sum of their ages will be 32. find mr. mason's present age.

Let x = the age of Mr. Mason's brother so

Mr Mason is x + 4 years old

5 years from now Mr. Mason's brother will be

x + 5 years old and

Mr. Mason will be x + 4 + 5 = x + 9 years old

We know that the sum of their sges in 5 years

will be

(x + 4) + (x + 9) = 32, so

2x + 13 = 32 which implies 2x = 18 or x = 9

Mr Mason presently is x + 4 = 9 + 4 = 13 years old