The ages of a mother and daughter are 36 years and 12 years, respectively. In how many years will the mother be twice the age of the daughter?
12 years
Let the required number of years be \(x\). After \(x\) years the mother's age is \(36 + x\) and the daughter's age is \(12 + x\).
The condition is that the mother is twice as old as the daughter: \(36 + x = 2(12 + x)\).
Expanding the right side gives \(36 + x = 24 + 2x\).
Rearranging, \(36 - 24 = 2x - x\), so \(x = 12\).
Hence, after 12 years the mother will be twice the daughter's age.