Here we will explain what "5 take away 17" means. Although you may not be familiar with this wording, "5 take away 17" is just a subtraction problem. We begin with the number 5, and since we need to "take away" 17, all we need to do is subtract 17 from 5.
Another way of thinking about "5 take away 17" is to replace the words "take away" with a subtraction symbol (-). When we turn "5 take away 17" into a subtraction equation, we can solve it like any other math problem. We have written the equation below:
5 - 17 = ?
Now that we know that "5 take away 17" is just another way of saying "5 minus 17," all we need to do is the actual math! You can use a calculator to find the answer by typing in 5, followed by the subtraction symbol (-), then 17, and finally, the equals symbol (=). Here is our solution to "5 take away 17":
5 take away 17 = -12
That’s all there is to it! Hopefully this helped you understand what "5 take away 17" means, so you can solve similar problems in the future.
Take Away Calculator
Use this tool to calculate another "take away" math problem