A father said to his son, "I was as old as you are at present at the time of your birth." If the father's age is 38 years now, the son's age five years back was___________

Options

A. 14 years
B. 19 years
C. 12 years
D. 17 years

Answer

To solve the problem step by step, let's break it down:

1. **Understanding the Statement**: The father says, "I was as old as you are at present at the time of your birth." This means that the father's age at the time of the son's birth was equal to the son's current age.

2. **Let the Son's Current Age be x**: We denote the son's current age as \( x \).

3. **Father's Current Age**: The father's current age is given as 38 years.

4. **Father's Age at the Time of Son's Birth**: At the time of the son's birth, the father was \( 38 - x \) years old (since the son is currently \( x \) years old).

5. **Setting Up the Equation**: According to the father's statement, at the time of the son's birth, the father's age was equal to the son's current age. Therefore, we can set up the equation:
\[ 38 - x = x \]

6. **Solving the Equation**:
- Rearranging the equation gives:
\[ 38 = 2x \]
- Dividing both sides by 2:
\[ x = 19 \]

7. **Finding the Son's Age Five Years Back**: The son's current age is 19 years. To find his age five years ago, we subtract 5 from his current age:
\[ 19 - 5 = 14 \]

8. **Conclusion**: The son's age five years back was 14 years.

### Final Answer:
The son's age five years back was **14 years**.