Question: Jim's bi-weekly gross pay is $1120. He automatically has 25% of his paycheck go into his retirement account. They also take $100.00 out of each paycheck for taxes. After money is taken out for retirement and taxes, how much money will be on Jim's paycheck?
Answer with step-by-step thinking: He has 25% of his take - home pay automatically enrolled into his 401k so that's .25 * 1120 = $280.00. His take - home pay is $1120.00 and $280.00 is taken out for retirement so that leaves 1120 - 280 = $840.00. They also take $100.00 out of his paycheck for taxes so his paycheck will be issued for 840 - 100 = $740.00.
So the answer is 740.

Question: Tim buys a book of esoteric words. He learns 10 words from it a day. In 2 years the book has increased the number of words he knows by 50%. How many words did he know originally?
Answer with step-by-step thinking: In 2 years there are 365 * 2 = 730 days. So he has learned 730 * 10 = 7300 words. He knew 1 / .5 = 2 times that number of words before the book. So he knew 7300 * 2 = 14600 words before.
So the answer is 14600.

Question: The cost of Joe's new HVAC system is $20,000. It includes 2 conditioning zones, each with 5 vents. In dollars, what is the cost of the system per vent?
Answer with step-by-step thinking:
Two zones with 5 vents per zone is 2 * 5 = 10 vents. Thus, the $20,000 system costs $20,000 / 10 = $2,000 per vent.
So the answer is 2000.