Ten years ago a man was as old as his wife is now.

[zackattack]

Ten years ago a man was as old as his wife is now. The man is now twice as old as his wife was then. How old are they both now?

[stapel_eliz]

Ten years ago a man was as old as his wife is now. The man is now twice as old as his wife was then. How old are they both now?

Start naming things, and use the relationships between the people and the times to set up this "age" word problem:

. . .ages now:
. . . . .him: h
. . . . .wife: w

. . .ages 10 years ago:
. . . . .him: h - 10
. . . . .wife: w - 10

. . .relationships:
. . . . .(him 10 years ago) is (wife now)
. . . . .(him now) is (twice) (wife 10 years ago)

Translate these relationships into two equations. Then solve the system of equations for the two values.

[zackattack]

so its (h-10)=(w) and (h)=2(w-10)?
i get w=30 h=40 is that rite?

[stapel_eliz]

so its (h-10)=(w) and (h)=2(w-10)?
i get w=30 h=40 is that rite?

You can check the answer to any "solving" exercise by plugging your solution back into the original problem, and seeing if it works. In your case:

If he's currently forty and she's currently thirty, then how old was he, ten years ago? How does this compare with her current age?

If she's currently thirty, how old was she, ten years ago? What is twice this value? How does this compare with his age now?

[stilllearning]

Well, I used substitution and I got
husband's age = 40
wife's age = 30