Here we will explain what "5 take away 72" means. Although you may not be familiar with this wording, "5 take away 72" is just a subtraction problem. We begin with the number 5, and since we need to "take away" 72, all we need to do is subtract 72 from 5.
Another way of thinking about "5 take away 72" is to replace the words "take away" with a subtraction symbol (-). When we turn "5 take away 72" into a subtraction equation, we can solve it like any other math problem. We have written the equation below:
5 - 72 = ?
Now that we know that "5 take away 72" is just another way of saying "5 minus 72," 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 72, and finally, the equals symbol (=). Here is our solution to "5 take away 72":
5 take away 72 = -67
That’s all there is to it! Hopefully this helped you understand what "5 take away 72" means, so you can solve similar problems in the future.
Take Away Calculator
Use this tool to calculate another "take away" math problem