The volume of 1 iron bar is 12 cm x 8 cm x 6 cm = 576 cubic cm. The volume of 10 iron bars is 10 x 576 cubic cm = 5760 cubic cm. Therefore, there are 5760 / 8 = 720 iron balls that have been molded.
The answer: 720
Reverse engineering the question: An iron bar measures 12 cm by 8 cm by 6 cm. A factory wants to melt ten iron bars and mold them into iron balls. Each iron ball has a volume of 8 cubic cm. How many iron balls have been molded?


Reasoning and answer: Horatio never got to read 70 / 14 = 5 sonnets. He read his lady 7 sonnets, so he wrote 7 + 5 = 12 sonnets in all.
The answer: 12
What was the question?
Question: Horatio is a poet composing sonnets for his lady fair. He believes it will take many of his sonnets to win her over. Each sonnet is fourteen lines long. His lady fair tells him to leave her alone after he reads her only seven sonnets, and Horatio is heartbroken over the 70 romantic lines he wrote that she never heard. How many sonnets did Horatio write in all?


Robert earned a commission of $23600 x 10 / 100 = $2360. So, he earned a total of $1250 + $2360 = $3610. And, he saved $3610 x 20 / 100 = $722. Therefore, his total expenses last month was $3610 - $722 = $2888.
The answer: 2888
Reverse engineering the question: Robert, a sales agent, earns a basic salary of $1250 per month and, 10% commission on his monthly sales. Last month, his total sales were $23600. He allocated 20% of his total earnings to savings and the rest of the money to his monthly expenses. How much were his monthly expenses last month?


Reasoning and answer: If she divided each orange into 10 pieces, she got 80 * 10 = 800 pieces of orange. Since each friend received 4 pieces, there were 800 / 4 = 200 friends.
The answer: 200
What was the question?
Question: Jillian had 80 oranges which she had bought to give to her friends. She divided each orange into ten equal pieces for each friend to get four pieces. How many friends were there?


In one week, the 3 men can eat 3 + 5 + 4 = 12 papayas. For 4 weeks, Jake will need to buy 12 x 4 = 48 papayas.
The answer: 48
Reverse engineering the question: In one week, Jake can eat 3 papayas, his brother can eat 5 papayas, and his father can eat 4 papayas. To account for 4 weeks, how many papayas does Jake need to buy from the farmer’s market?


Lance works 35 / 5 = 7 hours a day. So he makes $9 x 7 = $63 on each workday.
The answer: 63
Reverse engineering the question:
During the holidays, Lance works as a merchandiser. He works 35 hours a week, spread equally over 5 workdays. If Lance earns $9 an hour, how much does he make on each workday?