Helen is 8 years older than jane. twenty years ago helen was three times as old as jane. how old is each now? if jane's current age is x, what would the equation look like?

For this case, the first thing we must do is define variables:
 x: Jane's age
 y: Helen's age
 By writing the system of equations we have:
 y = x + 8
 y-20 = 3 (x-20)
 Solving the system we have:
 x = 24
 y = 32
 
 Jane is 24 years old
 Helen is 32 years old
 the equation for Jane would look like:
 x + 8 = 3 (x-20) + 20