Hey there! I'm happy to help!
We want to isolate y on one side of the equation to see what it equals. To do this, we use inverse operations to cancel out numbers on the y side and find the correct value.
1/3y+4=16
We subtract 4 from both sides, canceling out the +4 on the right but keeping the same y-value by doing the same to the other side.
1/3y=12
We divide both sides by 1/3 (which is multiplying both sides by 3) which will cancel out the 1/3 and tell us what y is equal to.
y=36
Now you know how to solve basic equations! Have a wonderful day! :D