Problems on Ages Tests — Pick a Level and Start
Tap a level to see every test in it. Level 1 is set at real SSC CGL difficulty — start there the day you finish the concept. Level 2 is pitched above the exam, to push accuracy under pressure.
Level 1 SSC CGL Level Checking… View tests
Same difficulty as the real SSC CGL paper — one relation applied cleanly per question. A ratio with the product of the two ages, or with their sum or difference; a ratio today and another at a later moment; a multiple now and a ratio later; a total with a multiple stated for a past year; a fractional relation stated for a future year; how many years ago or hence a given ratio holds; a parent’s ratio at a child’s birth; a three-generation family with one total; a third person tied to one of a pair by a fixed number of years; two families joined by a single age gap; children born at equal intervals; a parent’s age set against the total of the children’s ages; and the classic two-digit age puzzle. A steady score here means the chapter is exam-ready.
Level 2 Above SSC CGL Level Checking… View tests
Harder than the exam asks, because every question chains two steps or runs one backwards. A product solved for the ages and then a fresh unknown put into the time; a moment named by somebody’s own age rather than in years — when the younger doubles his age, when the elder turns 60, when one was as old as the other is now; a waiting time until a combined age reaches a stated figure; a parent’s present age asked backwards from a known waiting time; two multiples astride the present; ordering sentences that decide which way an age gap runs; twins counted twice in a family total; and two-clause self-referential puzzles. Clear these and the real paper feels easy.
Problems on ages look like a dozen different question types, but they run on two facts. The first: the gap between two ages never changes, because both people gain the same number of years — so a father who is 30 years above his son is 30 years above him at every moment in the question, and that gap is exactly his age when the son was born. The second: a ratio of ages does change, and it always drifts towards 1 : 1 as time passes and away from it as you go back.
The marks are lost in three places. The first is carrying a ratio across time — if two ages are 8 : 3 today they are not 8 : 3 in ten years, yet the unchanged ratio is on the paper almost every time. The second is moving a total the wrong way: two people gain 2 years of combined age each year, three people gain 3, so a sum of 60 today was 50 five years ago, not 55. The third is answering at the wrong moment — solving correctly and then reporting today’s age when the question named a year in the future. Each test puts twenty-five ages questions in front of you in one sitting, which is what makes those checks automatic.
How Many Problems on Ages Questions Are Asked in SSC CGL?
Ages is a small chapter with a high strike rate: the methods are fixed, the numbers are small, and a prepared candidate rarely spends a full minute on one.
| Chapter | Tier I (out of 25) | Tier II Paper I (out of 30) |
|---|---|---|
| Problems on Ages | 0–1 | 1–2 |
| Ratio & Proportion | 1–2 | 2–3 |
| Average | 1–2 | 1–2 |
| Partnership | 0–1 | 1–2 |
Counts vary by shift. Nearly every ages question is a ratio question with time added to it, so the hour you spend here also pays back in ratio and proportion.
What You Will Practice in the Problems on Ages Chapter
Core topics
- A ratio of two ages together with the product of those ages — now, or at a past or future moment
- A ratio with the sum of the two ages, or with the difference between them
- A fixed age difference with a product, solved through a single quadratic
- A ratio today and a second ratio at a later moment
- Ratios given at two moments that both lie away from today, one past and one future
- A total today with a ratio or a multiple stated for a past year
- A total today with a fractional relation stated for a future year
- One age as a multiple of the other at two different moments
- Fractional multiples such as two-and-a-half times or three-and-a-half times
- “How many times” questions, where the answer is a multiple and not an age
- Finding the number of years — forwards or backwards — until a stated ratio or multiple holds
- A parent’s age at a child’s birth, and the ratio of the parents’ ages at that moment
- Two birth moments in one family, and the gap between the children they imply
- Three-generation chains with a total, two offsets or a three-part ratio
- A third person tied to one of a pair by a fixed number of years, a fraction or the gap itself
- A family total with an offset between the parents and a multiple stated for a past year
- Two families joined by a single age gap, with an ordering sentence deciding the reading
- Children born at equal intervals, with one total given
- A parent’s age set against the total of the children’s ages
- Self-referential sentences — “when I was your age”, “when you are as old as I am now”
- Two-digit ages with a digit-sum, digit-product or digit-reversal condition
Rules worth memorising
| Situation | Rule |
|---|---|
| Ages in the ratio a : b | write them as ax and bx; x is the common multiplier |
| Ratio with the product P | ab × x² = P, so x = √(P ÷ ab) |
| Ratio with the sum S | one part = S ÷ (a + b) |
| Ratio with the difference d | one part = d ÷ (a − b) |
| A moment k years ago | subtract k from every age; a total falls by 2k for two people, 3k for three |
| A moment k years hence | add k to every age; a total rises by 2k or 3k in the same way |
| The age gap | constant for ever = a parent’s age at the child’s birth |
| Elder is m times the younger | the younger’s age = gap ÷ (m − 1) |
| Elder is twice the younger | the younger’s age = the gap itself |
| Ratio c : d after n years | (p + n) d = (q + n) c, solved for n |
| “When I was as old as you are now” | go back by the gap; “when you are as old as I am” goes forward by it |
| n children at equal intervals d | total = n × (youngest) + d(1 + 2 + … + (n − 1)) |
| Two-digit age | 10a + b; reversing changes it by 9(a − b); the two together make 11(a + b) |
Two rows carry the chapter: the gap never changes, and a ratio always does. Most of the others are those two applied in a particular order.
The three mistakes that cost the most marks
- Keeping a ratio fixed across time. Ages of 8 : 3 today become
48 : 18, that is8 : 3, only if no time passes; ten years later the same pair stands at58 : 28, which is29 : 14. Age both sides, then reduce. - Moving a total by k instead of 2k. Two people who total 60 today totalled
60 − 10 = 50five years ago, because each of them was five years younger. With three people the total moves by3k. - Answering at the wrong moment. Many questions solve at one moment and ask at another — the father’s age today when you have just found it for four years hence, or the son’s when the question named the father. Underline what is asked before writing the answer.
Solved Examples — SSC CGL Problems on Ages
4x and x. Their product is 4x² = 400, so x² = 100 and x = 10. The father is 4 × 10 = 40 and the son 10. Check: 40 × 10 = 400 and 40 : 10 = 4 : 1. The multiplier 10 is not an age, which is the usual slip here. Answer: 40 years5x and 2x. In eight years: 5x + 8 = 2(2x + 8), so 5x + 8 = 4x + 16 and x = 8. The man is 40 and the son 16. Check: in eight years they are 48 and 24, and 48 is twice 24. Answer: 40 and 16 years3s and s. In ten years: 3s + 10 = 2(s + 10), so s = 10 and the father is 30. The gap is 30 − 10 = 20 years, and a gap never changes, so the father was 20 when his son was born. Note the short cut: when the elder is twice the younger, the younger’s age equals the gap, so that moment arrives when the son is 20. Answer: 20 years56 − 8 = 48 years — eight less, not four, because both were younger. That total splits as 5 : 1, which is 6 parts, so one part is 8: the son was 8 and the father 40. Today they are 12 and 44, adding to 56. Answer: 12 yearsHow the Problems on Ages Chapter Tests Work
- 25 questions per test, with a full question palette — answered, skipped, marked for review, not visited.
- Optional 15-minute timer — with the clock to build exam speed, without it while you are still learning the chapter.
- Marking: +2 correct, −0.5 wrong, 0 unattempted — the same scheme as the real paper.
- Solutions, shortcut tricks and concept notes open after you submit, question by question.
- English and हिंदी, chosen at the start of every test.
- Free with a TrickySSC account — sign in once with Google or your mobile number, and every test is open to you.
How to Prepare Problems on Ages for SSC CGL
- Write the gap down first. It is the one quantity time cannot touch, and it is also the parent’s age at the child’s birth.
- Put the unknown multiplier on the moment the ratio belongs to. If the ratio is given for today, the ages are
axandbxtoday; if it is given for a past year, they are the past ages. - Add or subtract the years from every age. Never from one side only, and never from the ratio numbers.
- Move totals by 2k for two people and 3k for three. This single check clears most family questions.
- Turn a named moment into a number of years. “When the son is 20” or “when the elder turns 60” must become a count of years before either age can be moved.
- Convert mixed numbers before you start. Two-and-a-half times means
× 5/2; multiply the whole equation by the denominator straight away. - Use the twice rule as a short cut. When the elder is m times the younger, the younger’s age is
gap ÷ (m − 1)— and simply the gap when m is 2. - Read ordering sentences before writing anything. “B is older than A” is there to fix which way a difference runs, and both readings can give whole-number ages.
- Do Level 1 untimed, the same day you finish the theory. It is set at real SSC CGL difficulty; the aim is picking the right method, not speed.
- Repeat Level 1 with the 15-minute clock on, then move to Level 2. After that, verify against a previous year paper and a full mock test under locked sectional timing.
All SSC CGL Chapter Wise Tests
Every chapter below has its own free Level 1 and Level 2 tests with full solutions.
Browse all 45 chapter tests — Maths (35) · Reasoning (10)
- Number System
- Rule of Divisibility
- Remainder Theorem
- Decimal & Fraction
- LCM & HCF
- Square & Cube Root
- Number Series (AP & GP)
- Power, Indices & Surds
- Algebraic Formula
- Algebraic Result
- Algebraic Expression & Identities
- Percentage
- Profit & Loss
- Discount & Marked Price
- Simple Interest
- Compound Interest
- Ratio & Proportion
- Partnership
- Average
- Problems on Ages
- Mixture & Alligation
- Time & Work
- Pipe and Cistern
- Time, Speed and Distance
- Quadratic Equation
- Boat and Stream
- Races
- Trigonometry
- Heights & Distances
- Geometry
- Mensuration
- Coordinate Geometry
- Probability
- Statistics
- Data Interpretation
- All Maths chapters →
SSC CGL आयु संबंधी प्रश्न (Problems on Ages) चैप्टर टेस्ट — हिंदी में
यह अध्याय दो बातों पर चलता है। पहली: दो व्यक्तियों की आयु का अंतर कभी नहीं बदलता, क्योंकि दोनों बराबर वर्ष बढ़ते हैं — और यही अंतर बच्चे के जन्म के समय माता-पिता की आयु भी है। दूसरी: आयु का अनुपात बदलता रहता है — समय बीतने पर वह 1 : 1 की ओर बढ़ता है और पीछे जाने पर उससे दूर होता है।
अंक तीन जगह कटते हैं। पहली: अनुपात को समय के साथ स्थिर मान लेना — आज 8 : 3 वाली आयु दस वर्ष बाद 8 : 3 नहीं रहती। दूसरी: योग को गलत दिशा में ले जाना — दो व्यक्तियों का योग हर वर्ष 2 बढ़ता है और तीन का 3, इसलिए आज का 60 पाँच वर्ष पहले 50 था, 55 नहीं। तीसरी: गलत क्षण पर उत्तर देना — हल सही करके भी आज की आयु बता देना जब प्रश्न किसी और वर्ष की बात कर रहा हो।
TrickySSC पर इस अध्याय के सभी टेस्ट हिंदी में उपलब्ध हैं — प्रश्न, विकल्प, विस्तृत हल और शॉर्टकट ट्रिक सब हिंदी में। दो स्तर हैं: लेवल 1 (SSC CGL के स्तर का) और लेवल 2 (SSC CGL से कठिन)। प्रत्येक टेस्ट में 25 प्रश्न, वैकल्पिक 15 मिनट का टाइमर और +2 / −0.5 की वही मार्किंग जो असली परीक्षा में होती है।