Aisha starts with 500 songs + 500 songs = 1000 songs added to her mp3 player in the first two weeks. After that Aisha adds twice that amount to her mp3 player, 1000 x 2 = 2000 songs added. She now has 1000 + 2000 = 3000 songs on her mp3 player. However, she decides she wants to remove 50 of them, 3000 - 50 = 2950 songs on her mp3 player.
The answer: 2950
Reverse engineering the question: Aisha enjoys listening to music on her mp3 player. She starts with 500 songs on her mp3 player, then adds another 500 the week after that. She realizes her mp3 player has a large capacity for storing songs so she adds twice the amount she already had on her mp3 player. After a while, though, she decides that she doesn't like 50 of the songs and removes them. How many songs are on Aisha's mp3 player now?


Reasoning and answer: First find the number of ounces Erin serves per minute: 10 ounces / bowl * 5 bowls / minute = 50 ounces / minute. Then find the number of ounces in the pot: 6 gallons * 128 ounces / gallon = 768 ounces. Then divide the total amount of soup by the amount of soup Erin serves per minute: 768 minutes / 50 ounces / minute = 15.36 minutes, which rounds down to 15 minutes.
The answer: 15
What was the question?
Question: Erin works in the school cafeteria serving soup. Each bowl of soup has 10 ounces, and Erin can serve 5 bowls per minute. If the pot of soup has 6 gallons of soup, how long will it take Erin to serve all the soup, rounded to the nearest minute? (There are 128 ounces to a gallon.)


When Jayson is 10 his dad is 10 x 4 = 40 years old. His mom is 40 - 2 = 38 years old. When Jayson is born, his mom is 38 - 10 = 28 years old.
The answer: 28
Reverse engineering the question: When Jayson is 10 his dad is four times his age and his mom is 2 years younger than his dad. How old was Jayson's mom when he was born?


Reasoning and answer: Jessica's pumpkin weighs half the weight of Brad's 54 - pound pumpkin so 54 / 2 = 27 pounds. Betty's pumpkin weighs 4 times the amount of Jessica's 27 - pound pumpkin so it weighs 4 * 27 = 108. Betty has the heaviest pumpkin at 108 pounds while Jessica's is the lowest at 27 pounds so the difference is 108 - 27 = 81 pounds.
The answer: 81
What was the question?
Question: The county fair was hosting a pumpkin contest to see who could grow the biggest pumpkin in pounds. Brad entered his pumpkin with a weight of 54 pounds. Jessica's was half the weight of Brad's. Betty's pumpkin weight 4 times the amount of Jessica's pumpkin. What is the difference between the heaviest and lightest pumpkin in pounds?


The two heavy washes will use 20 * 2 = 40 gallons of water. The three regular washes will use 10 * 3 = 30 gallons of water. The light wash will use 2 * 1 = 2 gallons of water. The two bleached loads will use an extra 2 * 2 = 4 gallons of water. In all, 40 + 30 + 2 + 4 = 76 gallons of water will be needed.
The answer: 76
Reverse engineering the question: A washing machine uses 20 gallons of water for a heavy wash, 10 gallons of water for a regular wash, and 2 gallons of water for a light wash per load of laundry. If bleach is used, there is an extra light wash cycle added to rinse the laundry thoroughly. There are two heavy washes, three regular washes, and one light wash to do. Two of the loads need to be bleached. How many gallons of water will be needed?


Let her previous monthly income be p. The cost of her rent and utilities was 40% of p which is (40 / 100) * p = 2p / 5. Her income was increased by $600 so it is now p + $600. The cost of her rent and utilities now amount to 25% of (p + $600) which is (25 / 100) * (p + $600) = (p + $600) / 4. Equating both expressions for cost of rent and utilities: 2p / 5 = (p + $600) / 4. Multiplying both sides of the equation by 20 gives 8p = 5p + $3000. Subtracting 5p from both sides gives: 3p = $3000. Dividing both sides by 3 gives p = $1000.
The answer: 1000
Reverse engineering the question:
Mrs. Snyder used to spend 40% of her monthly income on rent and utilities. Her salary was recently increased by $600 so now her rent and utilities only amount to 25% of her monthly income. How much was her previous monthly income?