how do i answer this question?

Question

if 4 is added to a number and the sum is tripled, the result is 26 more than the number. find the number

Answer 1

Let the number we are adding be x. Let's parse this question. This first part is:

"4 is added to a number and the sum is tripled" => 3 * (4 + x). That is, we take the sum of 4 and x and triple (or multiply by 3).

The next is:

"the result is 26 more than the number" => 3 * (4 + x) = 26 + x. That is, when we evaluate 3 * (4 + x), we should get 26 more than x, or the result should be 26 + x.

Now, our equation to solve is:

3 * (4 + x) = 26 + x.

If we expand both sides, we find

12 + 3 * x = 26 + x

If we subtract 12 from both sides, we find:

3 * x = 14 + x

If we subtract x from both sides, we find:

2 * x = 14

Dividing both sides by 2, we find that the number is:

x = 7.