Mike thought of a number. he added to it two other numbers. one of these numbers was 12 less than his number, the other was 12 more than his number. the result of addition was 15. what was mike’s original number?

-3

step-by-step explanation:

a drawing really does here:

so i draw the horizontal line y=2 and the vertical line x=-2 at this intersection i put b (this is where my right angle is going to be).   so point b is at (-2,2).   point a is 5 units long and is also on y=2 so this point has to be (3,2) or (-7,2) -doesn't matter i will go with (3,2).

now we know c is at (-2,y) we don't know the y yet bet we know that c is on x=-2.

we have the area of the triangle is .5bh=12.5

we know the base length is 5 (ab)

we have the height is (2-y) if you look at your

plug in

.5(5)(2-y)=12.5

solve for y to get the y-coordinate for c

2.5(2-y)=12.5

divide both sides by 2.5 giving:

2-y=5

now subtract 2 on both sides

-y=3

y=-3