16 plus what equals 72?

This is how to calculate "16 plus what equals 72?" In other words, 16 plus a number equals 72. What is that number? We start by converting this word problem into an equation where "what" is what we want to solve:

16 + what = 72

To solve this equation, we first add -16 to each side of the equal sign like this:

16 - 16 + what = 72 - 16

Then, we do the calculation to get the answer to "16 plus what equals 72?" as follows:

What = 56

The answer to "16 plus what equals 72?" is 56. You know this answer is correct because 16 plus 56 equals 72.

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16 plus what equals 73?
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