The sums of three whole numbers taken in pairs are 12, 17, and 19. What is the middle number?
$\textbf{(A)}\ 4\qquad\textbf{(B)}\ 5\qquad\textbf{(C)}\ 6\qquad\textbf{(D)}\ 7\qquad\textbf{(E)}\ 8$
Let the three numbers be equal to $a$, $b$, and $c$. We can now write three equations:
$a+b=12$
$b+c=17$
$a+c=19$
Adding these equations together, we get that
$2(a+b+c)=48$ and
$a+b+c=24$
Substituting the original equations into this one, we find
$c+12=24$
$a+17=24$
$b+19=24$
Therefore, our numbers are 12, 7, and 5. The middle number is $\boxed{\textbf{(D)}\ 7}$