`? + (-8) = 12`

Options

A. `-4`
B. `-20`
C. `20
D. 4

Answer

To solve the equation \( ? + (-8) = 12 \), we can follow these steps:

### Step 1: Rewrite the equation
Let’s replace the question mark with a variable, say \( x \). The equation now looks like this:
\[ x + (-8) = 12 \]

### Step 2: Simplify the equation
The expression \( x + (-8) \) can be simplified to:
\[ x - 8 = 12 \]

### Step 3: Isolate the variable
To isolate \( x \), we need to get rid of the -8 on the left side. We can do this by adding 8 to both sides of the equation:
\[ x - 8 + 8 = 12 + 8 \]
This simplifies to:
\[ x = 20 \]

### Conclusion
The value of the question mark is:
\[ ? = 20 \]