Solve the equation "3y + 5 = 11" to find the value of y.

Remember that both sides of the equation need to 'balance', so any changes that we make to the right hand side must also be made to the left hand side. 

Let's start by getting rid of the '5' on the left hand side. We need to subtract 5 from both sides of the equation.

On the left hand side, 3y + 5 - 5 = 3y. On the right hand side, 11 - 5 = 6. So our new equation is 3y = 6. We know that this balances, as we've done the same operation on both sides.

If 3y = 6, that means that 3 multiplied by y is equal to 6. We want to find out y on its own, so we can divide both sides of the equation by 3. On the left hand side, (3*y)/3 = y. On the right hand side, 6/3 = 2. 

So our new equation, which gives us our answer, is y = 2. We can check if this is correct by substituting it back into the original equation from the question.

If y = 2, then the left hand side of the original equation is (3*2) + 5 = 6 + 5 = 11, which is what we have on the right hand side. So the equation balances, and we've found the right solution. Hurrah! If you don't get a balancing equation at this stage, there's been a mistake somewhere in your working, so go back through to check that you've remembered to do everything on BOTH sides of the equation.