38 plus what equals 5?

This is how to calculate "38 plus what equals 5?" In other words, 38 plus a number equals 5. What is that number? We start by converting this word problem into an equation where "what" is what we want to solve:

38 + what = 5

To solve this equation, we first add -38 to each side of the equal sign like this:

38 - 38 + what = 5 - 38

Then, we do the calculation to get the answer to "38 plus what equals 5?" as follows:

What = -33

The answer to "38 plus what equals 5?" is -33. You know this answer is correct because 38 plus -33 equals 5.

Plus What Equals Calculator
Here you can calculate a similar problem:

38 plus what equals 6?
Do you think you can solve a similar problem on your own? Try to figure out the next problem on our list and then go here to check the answer.