Jerry had 11 action figures on a shelf in his room. Later he added 42 more action figures to the shelf and removed some of the old ones. If there are 23 action figures on his shelf now How many action figures did he remove from the shelf?
Jerry had 11 action figures on a shelf in his room. 

This is our starting point, and we know that the answer is not 11. 

Later he added 42 more action figures to the shelf and removed some of the old ones. 

We're told that Jerry added 42 more action figures, and that he removed some of the old ones. This means that the number of action figures on the shelf increased by 42 - however many he removed. 

If there are 23 action figures on his shelf now

We're told that there are 23 action figures on the shelf now. 

How many action figures did he remove from the shelf?

This is what we're trying to figure out! We know that the number of action figures on the shelf increased by 42 - however many he removed. We also know that there are 23 action figures on the shelf now. 

Can you see how we can set up an equation to solve this problem?