In 1995, Hazel was 25 years older than her son Gary. In 2022, Hazel's age will be 150% of Gary's age. How old were they in 1995?

So find the difference between 1995 and 2022 to make it easier

2022-1995=27

so the rephrased question is

when hazel was x years old, she was 25 years older than son gary who was y old at that time (equation is x is 25 more than y or x=25+y)

in 27 years, (this means x+27 and y+27) hazel's age will be 150% of gary's age (x+27 = 150% of y+27)

percent means parts out of 100 so 150%=150/100=15/10=1.5

'of' in math means multiply so

the equations are

x=25+y

x+27=1.5 (y+27)

subsitute 25+y for x in second euation

25+y+27=1.5 (y+27)

add like terms

y+52=1.5 (y+27)

I personally dislike decimals to multiply both sides by 2 to make 2 0.5's or 1 (you are technically supposed to distribute or divide both sides by 1.5) so

2y+104=3 (y+27)

distribute

2y+104=3y+81

subtract 2y from both sides

104=y+81

subtract 81 from both sides

23=y

subsitute

x=25+y

x=25+23

x=48

Hazel was 48 and Gary was 23 in the year of 1995