12 plus what equals 21?

This is how to calculate "12 plus what equals 21?" In other words, 12 plus a number equals 21. What is that number? We start by converting this word problem into an equation where "what" is what we want to solve:

12 + what = 21

To solve this equation, we first add -12 to each side of the equal sign like this:

12 - 12 + what = 21 - 12

Then, we do the calculation to get the answer to "12 plus what equals 21?" as follows:

What = 9

The answer to "12 plus what equals 21?" is 9. You know this answer is correct because 12 plus 9 equals 21.

Plus What Equals Calculator
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12 plus what equals 22?
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