Ben has 8 apples more than Phillip does. Tom has three eighths as many apples at Ben has. If Phillip has 40 apples, how many apples does Tom have? Let's be accurate as possible.
Ben has 40 + 8 = 48 apples. There are 48 / 8 = 6 apples in every eighth. Tom has 6 * 3 = 18 apples.
The answer: 18.