The sum of the ages of two siblings is 28 years and the difference of their ages is 8 years. What is the present age of the elder sibling?
18 years
Let the age of the elder sibling be \(x\) years and the younger be \(y\) years.
Given: \(x + y = 28\) and \(x - y = 8\).
Adding the two equations: \(2x = 36 \Rightarrow x = 18\).
Hence, the present age of the elder sibling is 18 years.