Question: Calvin and Phoebe each have 8 more pastries than Frank but only five less than Grace. If Grace has 30 pastries, calculate the total number of pastries that the four have?
Answer with step-by-step thinking: If Grace has 30 pastries, then both Phoebe and Calvin each have 30 - 5 = 25 pastries. The total number of pastries that Phoebe and Calvin have is 25 + 25 = 50. Together, Phoebe, Calvin, and Grace have 50 + 30 = 80 pastries. Since Calvin and Phoebe each have 8 more pastries than Frank, then Frank has 25 - 8 = 17 pastries. Altogether, the four have 17 + 80 = 97 pastries.
So the answer is 97.

Question: Bill milked his cow and got 16 gallons of milk. He turned 1/4 into sour cream, 1/4 into butter, and kept the rest as whole milk. It takes 4 gallons of milk to make one gallon of butter and 2 gallons of milk to make 1 gallon of sour cream. If Bill sells butter for $5/gallon, sour cream for $6/gallon, and whole milk for $3/gallon, how much money does he make?
Answer with step-by-step thinking: First find how much milk Bill turned into sour cream and butter: 16 gallons * 1 / 4 = 4 gallons. Then find how many gallons of butter he makes out of 4 gallons of milk: 4 gallons milk / 4 gallons milk / 1 gallon butter = 1 gallon butter. Then find how many gallons of sour cream he makes out of 4 gallons of milk: 4 gallons milk / 2 gallons milk / 1 gallon sour cream = 2 gallon sour cream. Then subtract the amount of milk turned into butter and sour cream to find the remaining amount of whole milk: 16 gallons - 4 gallons - 4 gallons = 8 gallons. Then multiply the number of gallons of milk by the price of milk to find the total cost of the milk: 8 gallons * $3 / gallon = $24. Then multiply the number of gallons of sour cream by the price of sour cream to find the total cost of the sour cream: 2 gallons * $6 / gallon = $12. Then add the cost of the butter, sour cream and milk to find the total amount of money Bill earns: $24 + $12 + $5 = $41.
So the answer is 41.

Question: Tommy's mother lets him ride his bike 2 blocks north of his block, 3 blocks east, 2 blocks west, and 2 blocks south. His friend's father lets his friend ride his bike 80 square blocks. How many times greater is the area his friend can ride in compared to Tommy?
Answer with step-by-step thinking:
Tommy's area is 5 blocks wide because 3 + 2 = 5. His area is 4 blocks tall because 2 + 2 = 4. The total area is 20 square blocks because 5 x 4 = 20. His friend's area is 4 times bigger because 80 / 20 = 4.
So the answer is 4.