First find the end value of Jackson's investment: $500 * 4 = $2000. Then find the end value of Brandon's investment: 20% * $500 = $100. Then subtract the value of Brandon's investment from the value of Jackson's investment to find the difference: $2000 - $100 = $1900.
The answer: 1900
Reverse engineering the question: Jackson and Brandon both invest $500 in the stock market. Jackson's investment quadruples in value, while Brandon's is reduced to 20% of the initial value. How much more money does Jackson have than Brandon now?


Reasoning and answer: If it takes Hugo twice the amount of time to fold a medium box than a small box, then he needs 2 * 3 = 6 seconds for the medium box. If Tom can fold either the small or medium box in 4 seconds, then he's faster at folding the medium box than Hugo because 4s < 6s. If Hugo can fold the small box in 3 seconds, then he's faster at folding the small boxes than Tom because 3s < 4s. Therefore Hugo should fold all small boxes and Tom should fold all the medium ones before doing the other size where they are slower. If there are 2400 small boxes and Hugo can fold 1 box in 3 seconds, then it would take him 2400 * 3 = 7200 seconds to fold all boxes. If there are 1800 medium boxes and Tom can fold 1 box in 4 seconds, then it would take him 1800 * 4 = 7200 seconds to fold all medium boxes. Given that they need the same amount of time to fold all boxes, and are doing it simultaneously they will need 7200 seconds to fold all the boxes.
The answer: 7200
What was the question?
Question: Hugo can fold a small box in 3 seconds and a medium one in twice that time. Tom can fold both the small and medium boxes in 4 seconds. If Hugo and Tom want to leave as early as possible, how long (in seconds) will it take them to fold 2400 small boxes and 1800 medium boxes?


She gets a double espresso for $3.00 every morning and an iced coffee for $2.50 in the afternoon so she spends 3 + 2.5 = $5.50 every day on coffee. After 20 days, she spends 20 * 5.5 = $110.00 on coffee.
The answer: 110
Reverse engineering the question: Nancy buys 2 coffees a day. She grabs a double espresso for $3.00 every morning. In the afternoon, she grabs an iced coffee for $2.50. After 20 days, how much money has she spent on coffee?


Reasoning and answer: There are 15 Easter egg baskets with 12 Easter eggs in them, 15 x 12 = 180 Easter eggs. There are 7 adults + Shonda (1) + 2 of Shonda's kids + 10 of their friends = 20 people at the Easter egg hunt. There are 180 Easter eggs for 20 people, 180 / 20 = 9 Easter eggs each for everyone.
The answer: 9
What was the question?
Question: Shonda is throwing an Easter egg hunt for her 2 kids and their 10 friends. She is also supplying enough eggs for herself and the 7 other adults there to find eggs as well. If there are 15 Easter egg baskets for everyone to share and each ends up holding 12 Easter eggs, when they equally distribute all of the Easter eggs to everyone, how many eggs does each person get?


You know from the statement that on Monday he sells 2 pastries, so on Tuesday he sells 3, Wednesday 4, Thursday 5, Friday 6, Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 pastries. So the average value is (2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 + 8) pastries / 7 days. The baker sells, on average, 35 / 7 = 5 pastries / day for 1 week.
The answer: 5
Reverse engineering the question: A baker sells pastries for $5 and works 7 days a week. On Monday he sold 2. Every day the number of sales increases by 1 compared to the previous day. On average, how many pastries does he sell on each day of the week?


On the weekend, Jeff works 3 / 3 = 1 hour each day. On the weekdays, he spends 4 * 3 = 12 hours working each day. Thus, he spends 2 * 1 + 5 * 12 = 62 hours working each week.
The answer: 62
Reverse engineering the question:
Jeff spends three times as many hours on the weekend catching up with his Facebook pals as he does working. Monday through Friday, however, he spends four times as many hours working as he does catching up. If he spends 3 hours every day catching up, how many hours does he spend working in an entire week?