His parakeets eat 6 grams a day, because three parakeets times two grams each equals 6 grams. His parrots will eat 28 grams a day because two parrots times 14 grams equals 28 grams. Each finch will eat 1 gram a day, because they eat half of what a parakeet does and 1 / 2 of 2 equals one. His finches will eat 4 grams a day because four finches times 1 gram equals 4 grams. His birds eat 38 grams a day because 6 plus 28 plus 4 equals 38. Each week has 7 days. Therefore, in a week he will need 266 grams because 7 times 38 equals 266.
The answer: 266
Reverse engineering the question: Peter needs to buy birdseed to last a week. He knows that each parakeet eats 2 grams a day. His parrots eat 14 grams a day. His finches eat half of what a parakeet eats. If he has 3 parakeets, 2 parrots and 4 finches, how many grams of birdseed does he need to buy?


Reasoning and answer: The 50% of the class that chose dogs and video games amounts to 30 * 0.5 = 15 students who prefer dogs over cats. Similarly, the 10% that chose dogs and movies amount to 30 * 0.1 = 3 students who prefer dogs over cats. Because these are the only two ways that a student could indicate their preference for dogs, and because these groups do not overlap, a total of 15 + 3 = 18 students favor dogs over cats in this teacher's class.
The answer: 18
What was the question?
Question: During a unit on probability, a teacher surveys her class asking her students two questions. The first question was whether they prefer dogs or cats, and the second question was whether they movies or video games. Of the 30 students in her class, 50% chose dogs and video games as their two answers, while 10% chose dogs and movies as their two answers. In total, how many students in this teacher's class prefer dogs over cats?


Janice takes 30 / 2 = 15 minutes to clean her room. It takes 30 + 5 = 35 minutes for her to walk the dog. It takes her 30 x 1 / 6 = 5 minutes to take out the trash. So, it will take 30 + 15 + 35 + 5 = 85 minutes to do all those chores. Since there are 60 minutes in 1 hour, then 2 hours is 2 x 60 = 120 minutes. Thus, Janice still has 120 - 85 = 35 minutes left before the movie starts.
The answer: 35
Reverse engineering the question: Janice needs to go to watch a movie in 2 hours. before she could leave, she needs to finish her homework which takes 30 minutes; clean her room which takes half as long as her homework; walk the dog which takes 5 minutes more than making homework; take out the trash which takes 1/6 of the time it takes her to do the homework. How many more minutes do Janice have left before the movie starts?


Reasoning and answer: Let R be the total ore output of the company. Of Big Dig’s output, 100 - 10 - 60 = 30% is nickel. Since 720 is 60% of 100% of their output, 720 / R = 60 / 100. Thus, Big Dig mines R = 100 * 720 / 60 = 1200 tons of ore daily. Therefore, Big Dig mines 1200 * 30 / 100 = 360 tons of copper daily.
The answer: 360
What was the question?
Question: Big Dig Mining Company mines three different types of ore: copper, iron, and nickel. Across all their mines, 10% of their output is nickel, 60% is iron, and the rest is copper. They mine 720 tons of nickel a day. How many tons of copper does Big Dig Mining Company mine daily?


Today, Uncle Jerry reaps 120 + 50 = 170 tomatoes. Therefore, Uncle Jerry reaps a total of 120 + 170 = 290 ripe tomatoes.
The answer: 290
Reverse engineering the question: Uncle Jerry wants to reap ripe tomatoes from his garden. Yesterday, he was able to reap 120 tomatoes. Today, he was able to reap 50 more tomatoes than yesterday. How many tomatoes did Uncle Jerry reap?


Each screen shows movies all day, which means each screen shows 8 hours / day / 2 hours per movie = 4 movies / day. So in total, the movie theater shows 6 screens * 4 movies / day = 24 movies.
The answer: 24
Reverse engineering the question:
A movie theater has 6 screens which show movies back-to-back all day. If the movie theater is open for 8 hours, and each movie lasts 2 hours, how many movies are shown in total throughout the day?