After 16 years, Fatima will be three times as old as she is now. Find her present age.

Answer

To find Fatima's present age, we can follow these steps:

### Step 1: Define the variable
Let Fatima's present age be represented by \( X \).

### Step 2: Set up the equation
According to the problem, after 16 years, Fatima's age will be three times her current age. In 16 years, her age will be \( X + 16 \). The equation can be set up as:
\[ X + 16 = 3X \]

### Step 3: Simplify the equation
Now, we need to simplify the equation to find \( X \). We can subtract \( X \) from both sides:
\[ 16 = 3X - X \]
This simplifies to:
\[ 16 = 2X \]

### Step 4: Solve for \( X \)
Next, we will divide both sides by 2 to isolate \( X \):
\[ X = \frac{16}{2} \]
This gives us:
\[ X = 8 \]

### Conclusion
Fatima's present age is \( 8 \) years.

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