Out of 5 bags, he had 9 + 12 + 8 + 8 + 3 = 40 brown M&M's. He ate 5 bags so the average number of brown M&M's per bag was 40 / 5 = 8 brown M&M's.
The answer: 8
Reverse engineering the question: Robby doesn't like the color brown and will not eat the brown M&M's. On his first bag, he sets aside 9 brown M&M's. On the second bag, he sets aside 12. On his third & fourth bag, there are 8 brown M&M's that he doesn't eat. On his fifth bag, there are only 3 brown M&M's that he doesn't eat. What's the average number of brown M&M's in a bag?
Reasoning and answer: The second string of characters is half as long as the first string, so it is 8 / 2 = 4 characters long. The password has one symbol on each end, so it has 1 * 2 = 2 symbol characters. In all, Pat's computer password is 8 + 4 + 2 = 14 characters long.
The answer: 14
What was the question?
Question: Pat's computer password is made up of several kinds of alphanumeric and symbol characters for security. He uses a string of eight random lowercase letters, a string half that length of alternating upper case letters and numbers, and one symbol on each end of the password. How many characters in all is Pat's computer password?
There are 8 / 2 = 4 sets of two blocks that Justin can run. Thus, he can run home for 4 x 1.5 = 6 minutes.
The answer: 6
Reverse engineering the question: Justin can run 2 blocks in 1.5 minutes. If he is 8 blocks from home, in how many minutes can he run home?
Reasoning and answer: If 45% of people were voting for Biff + 8% were undecided = 53% were not voting for Marty. There were 100 53 = 47% voting for Marty. If 47% of 200 people were voting for Marty, 0.47 x 200 = 94 people said they were voting for Marty.
The answer: 94
What was the question?
Question: Marty and Biff were both running for student council president. A poll was taken to see how the candidate's campaigns were going. 45% of the people polled said they were voting for Biff and 8% were undecided. The rest said they are voting for Marty. If 200 people were polled, how many said they are voting for Marty?
4 bags have 4 x 20 = 80 apples. And, six bags have 6 x 25 = 150 apples. Thus, Ella has 80 + 150 = 230 apples in all. Therefore, Ella has 230 - 200 = 30 apple left.
The answer: 30
Reverse engineering the question: Ella has 4 bags with 20 apples in each bag and six bags with 25 apples in each bag. If Ella sells 200 apples, how many apples does Ella has left?
After giving a box to his mom, Seth had 4 * 2 = 8 boxes left. Seth bought 8 + 1 = 9 boxes of oranges.
The answer: 9
Reverse engineering the question:
Seth bought some boxes of oranges. He gave a box to his mother. He then gave away half of the remaining boxes. If Seth has 4 boxes of oranges left, how many boxes did he buy in the first place?