Ruth is counting the number of spots on her cow. The cow has 16 spots on its left side and three times that number plus 7 on its right side. How many spots does it have total? Let's think first. Chain of thought:
First multiply the number of spots on the left side by 3: 16 spots * 3 = 48 spots. Then add 7 to find the number of spots on the right side: 48 spots + 7 spots = 55 spots. Then add the number of spots on each side to find the total number of spots: 55 spots + 16 spots = 71 spots.
Therefore, the answer is 71.