Final answer:
The equation representing the given statement is x - 30 = 12, where x represents the number.
Step-by-step explanation:
To solve this equation, we first need to understand the meaning of the words in the statement. 'Thirty less than a number' means that we need to subtract 30 from a number, let's call it x. This gives us the expression x - 30. The phrase 'is equal to twelve' indicates that this expression is equal to the number 12.
So, our equation becomes x - 30 = 12. This is a simple one-step equation that we can solve easily. The goal is to isolate the variable, x, on one side of the equation by performing opposite operations on both sides. In this case, we need to undo the subtraction of 30 by adding 30 to both sides of the equation.
x - 30 + 30 = 12 + 30
x = 42
Therefore, the number is equal to 42. This is our final answer.