Thomas and Freya have ages that are consecutive integers. The sum of their ages is 16 less than three times the larger of the two ages. Which of the following equations could be used to solve for the smaller age, a?

The question is kind of confusing. if it's asking how many variations of answers can you give. then do 4^5 for your answer.this would be something like the first question could be a and the 2nd c or first b next c etc. if you can, ask the teacher for a better confirmation of what it's asking. if i'm assuming correctly what it's asking, it's 625 different variations.