Consider the Q and A. Q: Ed and Jacob already had 2 shells in their shell collection. Then they went to the beach to collect even more. Ed found 7 limpet shells, 2 oyster shells, and 4 conch shells. Jacob found 2 more shells than Ed did. How many shells do the pair have altogether?
A: 30
What is the step-by-step reasoning process?
Step-by-step reasoning process: Ed found 7 shells + 2 shells + 4 shells = 13 shells at the beach. Jacob found 13 shells + 2 shells = 15 shells at the beach. In total Ed and Jacob have 2 shells + 13 shells + 15 shells = 30 shells.

Consider the Q and A. Q: On Monday Buddy has 30 baseball cards. On Tuesday Buddy loses half of them. On Wednesday Buddy buys 12 baseball cards. On Thursday he buys a third of what he had on Tuesday. How many baseball cards does he have on Thursday?
A: 32
What is the step-by-step reasoning process?
Step-by-step reasoning process: On Tuesday Buddy has 30 / 2 = 15 baseball cards. On Wednesday Buddy has 15 + 12 = 27 baseball cards. On Thursday Buddy buys 15 / 3 = 5 baseball cards. On Thursday Buddy has a total of 27 + 5 = 32 baseball cards.

Consider the Q and A. Q: Camden went swimming 16 times in March and Susannah went 24 times. If the number of times they went throughout the month was divided equally among 4 weeks, how many more times a week did Susannah swim than Camden?
A: 2
What is the step-by-step reasoning process?
Step-by-step reasoning process: Camden went swimming 16 / 4 = 4 times a week. Susannah went swimming 24 / 4 = 6 times a week. Susannah went 6 - 4 = 2 more times a week than Camden.

Consider the Q and A. Q: Nancy, the librarian, is shelving books from the cart. She shelved 12 history books, 8 romance books, and 4 poetry books from the top section of the cart. Half the books on the bottom section of the cart were mystery books, which she quickly put back into place. Then, she shelved the remaining books from the bottom of the cart, including 5 Western novels and 6 biographies. How many books did she have on the book cart when she started?
A: 46
What is the step-by-step reasoning process?
Step-by-step reasoning process:
Half of the books on the bottom section of the cart are mystery books, which means they are the same as the number of Western novels and biographies put together. So there are 5 + 6 = 11 mystery novels. Add them all together, and there are 12 history + 8 romance + 4 poetry + 11 mystery + 5 Western + 6 biographies = 46 books total.