Question

36 plus a number equals 59. What is the number?

Answer 1

The number is `23`.

Explanation:

Translate the sentence from English to math (call "a number" `n`) then solve for `n`:

`stackrel(36) overbrace("36") " " stackrel(+) overbrace("plus") " " stackrel(n) overbrace("a number") " " stackrel(=) overbrace("equals") " " stackrel(59) overbrace("59") "."`

Copy down the equation, then subtract `36` from both sides:

`36+n=59`

`36+ncolor(blue)-color(blue)36=59color(blue)-color(blue)36`

`n+36color(blue)-color(blue)36=59color(blue)-color(blue)36`

`ncolor(red)cancelcolor(black)(+36color(blue)-color(blue)36)=59color(blue)-color(blue)36`

`n=59color(blue)-color(blue)36`

`n=23`

This means that the number that the problem was describing is `23`. Hope this helped!