15 feet of string is 15 * 12 = 180 inches long. If for every 6 - inch wick she also cuts a 12 - inch wick, then the pair of wicks are 6 + 12 = 18 inches long. Thus, in 180 inches of string, she can cut 180 / 18 = 10 pairs of wicks. 10 pairs of wicks are a total of 10 * 2 = 20 wicks.
The answer: 20
Reverse engineering the question: Amy bought a 15-foot spool of string to cut up into wicks for making candles.  If she cuts up the entire string into an equal number of 6-inch and 12-inch wicks, what is the total number of wicks she will have cut?


Reasoning and answer: Mrs. Merril wants to follow 2 hours x 60 minutes / hour = 120 minutes screen time. Since her child already used up 45 minutes, he is allowed to use his gadget this evening for 120 minutes - 45 minutes = 75 minutes.
The answer: 75
What was the question?
Question: The American Academy of Pediatrics recommended no more than 2 hours of screen time each day for children. Mrs. Merril wants to follow a 2-hour screen time for her child. How many minutes will she allow her child to use his gadget this evening if he already used his gadget for 45 minutes in the morning?


Tablecloth = 102 * 54 = 5508 square inches. Napkins = 8 * (6 * 7) = 336 square inches. 5508 + 336 = 5844 square inches. Sally will need 5844 square inches of material to make the tablecloth and 8 napkins.
The answer: 5844
Reverse engineering the question: Sally needs to make a tablecloth that measures 102 inches by 54 inches. She also needs to make 8 napkins that are 6 by 7 inches. How many square inches of material will Sally need to make the tablecloth and the 8 napkins?


Reasoning and answer: First subtract the 300 MB Elsa spent on YouTube: 500 MB - 300 MB = 200 MB. Then multiply 200 MB by 2 / 5th to find out how much data Elsa spent on Facebook: 200 MB * 2 / 5 = 80 MB. Finally, subtract the data Elsa spent on Facebook from the 200 MB: 200 MB - 80 MB = 120 MB.
The answer: 120
What was the question?
Question: Elsa gets 500 MB of cell phone data each month. If she spends 300 MB watching Youtube and 2/5 of what's left on Facebook, how many MB of data does she have left?


To buy regular food items individually, they cost $5 + $3 + $3 = $11. To buy kids food items individually, they cost $3 + $2 + $2 = $7. If you buy the special burger meal, you save $11 - $9.50 = $1.50. If you buy the kid's meal, you save $7 - $5 = $2. Mr. Parker buys 4 special burger meals, bringing his discount to 4 x $1.50 = $6. He buys 2 kid's meals, bringing his discount to 2 x $2 = $4. The total savings for Mr. Parker is $6 + $4 = $10.
The answer: 10
Reverse engineering the question: At the burger hut, you can buy a burger for $5, french fries for $3, and a soft drink for $3. If you order a special burger meal, you get all 3 of these food items for $9.50. A kid’s burger is $3, a kid’s french fries are $2, and a kid's juice box is $2. They also have a kids meal of all 3 kids' food items for $5. Mr. Parker buys 2 burger meals for his wife and himself. He also buys 2 burger meals and 2 kid's meals for his 4 children. How much money does Mr. Parker save by buying the 6 meals versus buying the individual food items?


There were 3 * 120 = 360 calories in the package. So he ate 360 / 2 = 180 calories.
The answer: 180
Reverse engineering the question:
A package of candy has 3 servings with 120 calories each. John eats half the package. How many calories did he eat?