Let x be the number of books borrowed by lunchtime. So by lunchtime, the remaining number of books will be 100 - x. After adding 40 more books, the total number of books increased to 100 - x + 40. By evening, after 30 more books have been borrowed, the total number of books remaining is 100 - x + 40 - 30 = 60. Thus 110 - x = 60. Thus x = 50 books.
The answer: 50
Reverse engineering the question: Hadley loves to do volunteer work at the local library. On a certain day, she neatly arranges 100 books on the shelf. By lunchtime, a certain number of books had been borrowed. She added 40 more books to the same shelf. By evening, 30 more books had been borrowed. If the shelf had 60 books remaining by the evening, how many books had been borrowed by lunchtime?


Reasoning and answer: Caleb was left with 40 - 3 - 3 - 5 - 2 = 27 dandelion puffs to give to his friends. They each received 27 / 3 = 9 dandelion puffs.
The answer: 9
What was the question?
Question: Caleb picked a handful of dandelion puffs. He gave 3 to his mom, another 3 to his sister, 5 to his grandmother, and 2 to his dog. Then, he divided the remaining dandelion puffs equally among his 3 friends. How many dandelion puffs did each friend receive if he originally picked 40 dandelion puffs?


For half of the cupcakes, Stephanie wants to use 1 candle each. Since half of the cupcakes is 24 / 2 and she plans to use 1 candle each for this half of the cupcakes, Stephanie needs (24 / 2) * 1 = 12 candles for this half of the cupcakes. For the other half of the cupcakes, Stephanie wants to use 2 candles. Therefore, she will need (24 / 2) * 2 = 24 candles for this half of the cupcakes. Because Stephanie needs 12 candles for half of the cupcakes and 24 candles for the other half, she needs a total of 12 + 24 = 36 candles. Since Stephanie needs 36 candles to decorate all the cupcakes and she currently has 30 candles, Stephanie needs 36 - 30 = 6 additional candles.
The answer: 6
Reverse engineering the question: Stephanie is decorating 24 cupcakes for a birthday party, but she needs more candles. She currently has a total of 30 candles. She wants to decorate half of the cupcakes with 1 candle each and the other half of the cupcakes with 2 candles each. How many additional candles does Stephanie need to complete the cupcakes?


Reasoning and answer: First calculate the number of eggs laid in 1 week: 270 X 7 = 1890 eggs. Now let’s put these eggs in the boxes: 1890 / 6 = 315 boxes.
The answer: 315
What was the question?
Question: At the Boisjoli farm, there is a chicken coop where 270 hens and 3 roosters live. Every morning, around 8 a.m., Ms. Mosel goes to collect the eggs because, every morning, each hen lays one. Then, after 1 hour of collection, she puts all these eggs in boxes of 6. It takes her another 40 minutes. Once all this is done, Ms. Mosel brings all the boxes of eggs to her village. She does it from Monday to Sunday, because chickens don't have a day off. How many boxes does Ms. Mosel fill each week?


Every third shopper buys a package of candied yams, so the store will need 375 / 3 = 125 packages. At 25 packages per bulk box, the store will need 125 / 25 = 5 bulk boxes of candied yams.
The answer: 5
Reverse engineering the question: Candied yams fly off the shelf during the holiday season. The store buys them in bulk boxes of 25 packages. If every third shopper buys a package of candied yams, how many bulk boxes of candied yams will the store need to order for their 375 predicted holiday shoppers?


The total cost for roses is 20 * 5 = $100. Nadia bought 3 / 4 * 20 = 15 lilies. Each lily costs 5 * 2 = $10. She used 10 * 15 = $150 in total to buy lilies. To buy all the flowers, Nadia used 150 + 100 = $250.
The answer: 250
Reverse engineering the question:
Nadia was sent to the flower shop to buy 20 roses and 3/4 times as many Lillies as roses. If roses cost $5 each and lilies cost twice as much each, calculate the total amount of money Nadia used to buy the flowers.