Four years ago stephanie was 2/3 as old as alex was then. four years from now, she will be 4/5 as old as alex will be. how old are stephanie and alex now? let me know how you set up your equation.

Let the Present age of Alex be 'X'.
and Present age of Stephanie be 'Y'.

According to the question:

(A) 4 years Before,
Stephanie was 2/3 of Alex's then age.

2/3 * (X-4) = (Y-4)
2x-8 = 3y-12

2x-3y = -4 ( Equation 1)

(B) 4 years After
Stephanie will be 4/5 of Alex's then age.

4/5 * (X+4) = (Y+4)
4x+16 = 5y + 20

4x- 5y = 4 ( Equation 2)

Solving Equation 1 and 2 we get:

Present age of Alex= 16 Years
Present age of Stephanie = 12 years