What number, when subtracted by 7 and then multiplied by four, equals 12?

To solve the equation described, we can break down the problem step by step. The statement says that four times the difference of a number (let’s call it x) and 7 is equal to 12. We can express this mathematically as:

4(x – 7) = 12

Now, let’s solve for x:

1. First, divide both sides of the equation by 4 to isolate the term inside the parentheses:

x – 7 = 3

2. Next, add 7 to both sides to solve for x:

x = 3 + 7

3. This simplifies to:

x = 10

Therefore, the number you are looking for is 10. To verify, you can plug it back into the original equation:

4(10 – 7) = 12, which simplifies to 4(3) = 12, confirming that our solution is correct.