The combined age of Jack and John is 49. Jack is twice as old, as John was when Jack was as old as John is now. How old are the brothers?

Why this works

This riddle involves a clever use of age relationships and algebraic reasoning. Let’s break it down step by step: 1. We know that the combined age of Jack and John is 49, which we can express as \( J + j = 49 \) (where \( J \) is Jack's age and \( j \) is John's age). 2. The riddle states that Jack's current age \( J \) is twice as old as John was when Jack was the same age as John is now. This creates an equation that involves the ages at different points in time, leading us to the relation \( J = 2(j - (J - j)) \). This essentially captures the idea that Jack’s age is double the age difference they share. 3. By solving the equations \( J + j = 49 \) and the derived equation, we can find that Jack is 28 and John is 21. The riddle plays with the concept of age differences and how they relate over time, creating a fun puzzle that challenges our thinking about age in a nonlinear way!