the product of 3 and 4 less than a number is -4

Question

i am wondering what this question is as i cannot figure out the answer. this is from a year 9 textbook

 

Answer 1

You can think of the "less than a number" as -X as you are essentially subtracting X from 3*4. So you then have

3*4 - X = -4. You should now be able to solve it.