document.write( "Question 81958: The sum of a number and –16 is 3. Find the number. \n" ); document.write( "
Algebra.Com's Answer #58731 by bucky(2189)\"\" \"About 
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Let x be the unknown number. Then the sum of it and -16 is represented by:
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\n" ); document.write( "x + (-16)
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\n" ); document.write( "And the problem tells you that this is to equal 3. In equation form this can be written as:
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\n" ); document.write( "x + (-16) = 3
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\n" ); document.write( "Since the parentheses are preceded by a plus sign, they can be removed without changing
\n" ); document.write( "the sign of the term inside the parentheses. When you do that removal, the equation
\n" ); document.write( "becomes:
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\n" ); document.write( "x - 16 = 3
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\n" ); document.write( "to solve for x get rid of the -16 on the left side by adding 16 to both sides. The addition
\n" ); document.write( "of 16 to both sides results in:
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\n" ); document.write( "x - 16 + 16 = 3 + 16
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\n" ); document.write( "On the left side the -16 and + 16 cancel each other out. And on the right side the
\n" ); document.write( "3 + 16 is 19. So the equation becomes:
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\n" ); document.write( "x = 19
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\n" ); document.write( "The missing number that solves this problem is +19
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\n" ); document.write( "Hope this helps you to understand the basics of this problem and shows you a way to logically
\n" ); document.write( "solve it.
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