5 less than 3 times a number is 7. How would I write this as an equation

You want to break this down.

“5 less than” means you’ll subtract 5 from something.

That something is “3 times a number.” “3 times a number” means 3•x or 3x, since we’ll use x for that unknown number.

So, “5 less than 3 times a number” means “subtract 5 from 3x”: 3x-5

“Is” means “equals”. So 3x-5= something.

7, well, that’s 7.

So “5 less than 3 times a number is 7” means ”subtract 5 from 3x and set that equal to 7.”

3x-5=7