three times the sum of a number and 4 is 9

Answer 1

Let "n" be "a number. Then "the sum of a number and 4" is "n + 4" and three times that is 3(n + 4) and since that "is" 9 we can say 3(n + 4) = 9

To solve that, if you needed to, you would multiply it out to get:

3n + 12 = 9

then subtract 12 from each side to get:

3n = -3

then divide each side by 3 to get:

n = -1

So "the number" is -1