Explanation:
There are different patterns that could be used to determine the next number in this sequence, so there is not necessarily one correct answer. However, one possible pattern is to look at the differences between the numbers and see if there is a consistent change.
If we look at the differences between the numbers, we can see that:
12 - 16 = -4
9 - 12 = -3
The differences are decreasing by 1 each time, so we might expect the next difference to be -2. Therefore, to find the next number in the sequence, we can subtract 2 from 9:
9 - 2 = 7
So one possible answer to "what comes next" in the sequence 16, 12, 9 is 7.