What is the missing number 73 – 17 = 46 + ?
The Correct Answer and Explanation is:
We are given the equation:
73 – 17 = 46 + ?
Step 1: Simplify the left side
73 – 17 = 56
Step 2: Rewrite the equation with the simplified value
56 = 46 + ?
Step 3: Solve for the missing number
To find the missing number, subtract 46 from 56:
56 – 46 = 10
So, the missing number is: 10
✅ Final Answer: 10
Explanation:
This problem is a basic algebraic equation involving simple arithmetic operations: subtraction and addition. The goal is to find the number that balances both sides of the equation so that they are equal. The original equation is:
73 – 17 = 46 + ?
To solve this, we first simplify the left-hand side (LHS). Subtracting 17 from 73:
73 – 17 = 56
So the equation becomes:
56 = 46 + ?
Now, we must determine what number added to 46 equals 56. To do this, we subtract 46 from 56:
56 – 46 = 10
This tells us that the missing number must be 10 in order to make both sides equal.
This type of equation checks your understanding of the equality principle in mathematics — that both sides of an equation must represent the same value. We maintain the balance by performing inverse operations: since the 46 is being added to the unknown number, we undo the addition by subtracting.
This problem also demonstrates a fundamental concept in algebra: solving for an unknown variable by isolating it. Even though there’s no variable like “x” written in the equation, we treat the question mark as the unknown and use arithmetic to find its value.
Such exercises are excellent for building number sense and preparing for algebraic reasoning, where you’ll solve more complex problems using the same basic logic.
