Seven less than a number divided by 3 is five

Answer 1

What are we looking for? The unknown is a number which we can call N. the problem states that 7 less than this number (N-7) divided by 3 (N-7/3) = 5. The equation to be solved is

(N-7)/3 = 5.

We first need to clear the denominator by multiplying both sides by 3 giving (N-7) = 15. Remove the parenthesis as it is not needed and add +7 to each side of the equation giving N = 22. Prove it by seeing for yourself that 22 satisfies the problem given.