Question

Twelve is sixteen less than four times a number

Answer 1

4x-16=12 would be the equation. To solve:
Add 16 to both sides.
4x=28
Divide by 4.
x=7

Answer 2

Say it out loud and you should get your answer like that.

12 = 16 - 4x

Well, 16 - 4 already equals 12, so the x shouldn't have a value over 2.

The x must be a 1.

The equation would be 12 = 16 - 4 x 1.

Hope this helped.