Apollo pulls the sun across the sky every night. Once a month, his fiery chariot's wheels need to be replaced. He trades golden apples to Hephaestus the blacksmith to get Hephaestus to make him new wheels. Hephaestus raised his rates halfway through the year and now demands twice as many golden apples as before. He charged three golden apples for the first six months. How many golden apples does Apollo have to pay for the entire year of chariot wheels? Let's think first. Chain of thought:
Apollo had to pay 3 * 6 = 18 golden apples for the first six months. For the second six months, he had to pay twice that amount, or 18 * 2 = 36 golden apples. Thus, Apollo had to pay 18 + 36 = 54 golden apples for a year of chariot wheels.
Therefore, the answer is 54.