Rita is reading a five-chapter book with 95 pages. Each chapter has three pages more than the previous one. How many pages does the first chapter have? Give the rationale and then the answer.
Let's think step by step. Let P be the number of pages in the first chapter. The second chapter has P + 3 pages. The third chapter has P + 3 + 3 = P + 6 pages. The fourth chapter has P + 6 + 3 = P + 9 pages. The fifth chapter has P + 9 + 3 = P + 12 pages. The whole book has P + 3 + P + 6 + P + 9 + P + 12 = 5P + 30 = 95 pages. Thus, without the 30 extra pages from additional chapters, 5P = 95 - 30 = 65 pages. Therefore, the first chapter had P = 65 / 5 = 13 pages.. The answer is: 13.

Carter grew 9 plants with 3 seed packets. How many more seed packets does Carter need to have a total of 12 plants in his backyard? Give the rationale and then the answer.
Let's think step by step. If he grows 9 plants with 3 seed packets, he grows 9 / 3 = 3 plants with 1 seed packet. Since 1 seed packet grows 3 plants, he'll need 1 more to make the plants 12.. The answer is: 1.

An earthquake caused four buildings to collapse. Experts predicted that each following earthquake would have double the number of collapsing buildings as the previous one, since each one would make the foundations less stable. After three more earthquakes, how many buildings had collapsed including those from the first earthquake? Give the rationale and then the answer.
Let's think step by step. The second earthquake caused 2 * 4 = 8 buildings to collapse. The third earthquake caused 2 * 8 = 16 buildings to collapse. The fourth earthquake caused 16 * 2 = 32 buildings to collapse. Including the first earthquake, the earthquakes caused 4 + 8 + 16 + 32 = 60 buildings to collapse.. The answer is: 60.