Let's embark on the intricacies of Oscar's and Xavier's ages, unraveling the puzzle presented before us.
Let's denote Oscar's current age as O and Xavier's current age as X
According to the first condition, Oscar's age is three times Xavier's. So, we can express this as:
O = 3X
Now, let's consider the second condition. After 12 years, Oscar's age will be double that of Xavier decreased by 2 years. This can be expressed as:
O + 12 = 2(X + 12 - 2)
O + 12 = 2(X + 10)
O + 12 = 2X + 20
O = 2X + 8
Now, we have a system of equations:
O = 3X
O = 2X + 8
We can solve this system to find the values of \( O \) and \( X \).
Substituting the first equation into the second, we get:
3X = 2X + 8
X = 8
Now that we know Xavier's age, we can find Oscar's age using the first equation:
O = 3 \times 8
O = 24
So, according to our calculations, Xavier's current age is 8 years old, while Oscar's current age is 24 years old.