user: Q: The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 2% today. The Dow ended the day at 8,722. What was the Dow in the morning before the markets opened?
A: Today the Dow was down 8722 / 98 * 2 = 178. So it started at 8722 + 178 = 8900. The answer is 8900.
Question: Jemma saw 7 grasshoppers on her African daisy plant. Then, hopping on the grass under the plant, she found 2 dozen baby grasshoppers. How many grasshoppers did Jemma find altogether?
Answer: Jemma found 2 x 12 = 24 baby grasshoppers. In total, she found 24 + 7 = 31 grasshoppers. The answer is 31.
[Question]In the cafeteria, Athena wants to buy snacks for her friends. She bought 3 sandwiches at $3 each and 2 fruit drinks at $2.5 each. How much did she spend in all?
[Answer]Athena spent 3 x $3 = $9 on sandwiches. She spent 2 x $2.5 = $5 on fruits drinks. Therefore, Athena spent $9 + $5 = $14 in all. The answer is 14.
Q: Judson, Camilo, and Kenny decided to contribute money to paint their house. Judson contributed $500, Kenny contributed 20% more money than Judson, and Camilo contributed $200 more than Kenny. How much was the cost of painting the house?
A: If Judson paid $500, Kenny contributed 20 / 100 * $500 = $100 more than Judson. In total, Kenny contributed $500 + $100 = $600. Kenny and Judson contributed a total of $600 + $500 = $1100. If Camilo contributed $200 more than Kenny, then he contributed $600 + $200 = $800. The total amount of money the three contributed for the house painting is $1100 + $800 = $1900. The answer is 1900.
Question: Every year in January, Natalia, the librarian, tidies up the books. She has 145 novels, 271 comics, 419 documentaries, and 209 albums to store. She wants to put these in crates that can hold 9 items. How many crates will Natalia use?
Answer: Let’s first calculate the total number of items: 145 + 271 + 419 + 209 = 1044 items. Now let’s put the items in the crates: 1044 / 9 = 116 crates. The answer is 116.
Q: A curry house sells curries that have varying levels of spice. Recently, a lot of the customers have been ordering very mild curries and the chefs have been having to throw away some wasted ingredients. To reduce cost and food wastage, the curry house starts monitoring how many ingredients are actually being used and changes their spending accordingly. The curry house needs 3 peppers for very spicy curries, 2 peppers for spicy curries, and only 1 pepper for mild curries. After adjusting their purchasing, the curry house now buys the exact amount of peppers they need. Previously, the curry house was buying enough peppers for 30 very spicy curries, 30 spicy curries, and 10 mild curries. They now buy enough peppers for 15 spicy curries and 90 mild curries. They no longer sell very spicy curries. How many fewer peppers does the curry house now buy?
A:

assistant: The curry house previously bought 3 peppers per very spicy curry * 30 very spicy curries = 90 peppers for very spicy curries. They also bought 2 peppers per spicy curry * 30 spicy curries = 60 peppers for spicy curries. They also bought 1 pepper per mild curry * 10 mild curries = 10 peppers for mild curries. So they were previously buying 90 + 60 + 10 = 160 peppers. They now buy 2 peppers per spicy curry * 15 spicy curries = 30 peppers for spicy curries. They also now buy 1 pepper per mild curry * 90 mild curries = 90 peppers for mild curries. So they now buy 30 + 90 = 120 peppers. This is a difference of 160 peppers bought originally - 120 peppers bought now = 40 peppers. The answer is 40.