Mrs. johnson is 5 times as old as her son. three years ago she was 8 times as old as her son was then. find each of their ages

Let age of son = x years and y = age of Mrs Johnson, then:-

y = 5x

and

y - 3 = 8 (x - 3)

plug y = 5x into the above:-

5x - 3 = 8x - 24

21 = 3x

x = 7

Sons age is 7 and Mrs Johnson's age is 35.