Q: John decides to install a ramp in his house. He needs to get permits which cost $250. After that, he hires a contractor which costs $150 an hour and the guy works for 3 days at 5 hours per day. He also pays an inspector 80% less to make sure it is OK. How much was the total cost?
A: The contractor works for 3 * 5 = 15 hours. That means he charged 150 * 15 = $2250. The inspector charged 2250 * .8 = $1800 less. So the inspector charged 2250 - 1800 = $450. So the total amount charged was 250 + 450 + 2250 = $2950. The answer is 2950.
Question: John's cow weighs 400 pounds. It increased its weight to 1.5 times its starting weight. He is able to sell the cow for $3 per pound. How much more is it worth after gaining the weight?
Answer: The cow initially weighs 400 * 1.5 = 600 pounds. So it gained 600 - 400 = 200 pounds. So its value increased by 200 * $3 = $600. The answer is 600.
[Question]Tom decides to renovate a house. There are 3 bedrooms and each bedroom takes 4 hours to renovate. The kitchen takes 50% longer than each bedroom. The living room took twice as much time as everything else combined. How long did everything take?
[Answer]The kitchen took 4 * .5 = 2 hours longer than the bedrooms. So the kitchen took 4 + 2 = 6 hours. The bedrooms took 3 * 4 = 12 hours. So the kitchen and bedrooms combined took 12 + 6 = 18 hours. The living room took 18 * 2 = 36 hours. So everything took a total of 18 + 36 = 54 hours. The answer is 54.
Q: Sam and Jeff had a skipping competition at recess. The competition was split into four rounds. Sam completed 1 more skip than Jeff in the first round. Jeff skipped 3 fewer times than Sam in the second round. Jeff skipped 4 more times than Sam in the third round. Jeff got tired and only completed half the number of skips as Sam in the last round. If Sam skipped 16 times in each round, what is the average number of skips per round completed by Jeff?
A: In round one, Jeff completed 16 - 1 = 15. In round two, Jeff completed 16 - 3 = 13. In round three, Jeff completed 16 + 4 = 20. In round four, Jeff completed 16 / 2 = 8. Jeff completed 15 + 13 + 20 + 8 = 56 skips in total. Jeff skipped an average of 56 / 4 = 14 skips per round. The answer is 14.
Question: A shady restaurant is charging customers gratuities after taxes without them being aware. If my total bill was $140, the sales tax in my city is 10%, I ordered a NY Striploin for $80, and I ordered a glass of wine for $10, how much did they charge me for gratuities?
Answer: The total bill before taxes or gratuities was $80 for the steak + $10 for the wine = $80 + $10 = $90. If the tax is 10%, then the taxes paid were $90 * 10% = $9. That means that the total bill before gratuities was $90 + $9 = $99. If the final bill was $140, then you were charged $140 - $99 = $41 for gratuities. The answer is 41.
Q: Rebecca makes her own earrings out of buttons, magnets, and gemstones. For every earring, she uses two magnets, half as many buttons as magnets, and three times as many gemstones as buttons. If Rebecca wants to make 4 sets of earrings, how many gemstones will she need?
A:

Show your work and conclude with the exact phrasing "Therefore, the final answer is [answer]." where [answer] is just the final number or expression that solves the problem.
user
Four sets of earrings is 2 * 4 = 8 earrings. Since for one earring, she uses two magnets, for eight earrings she uses 2 * 8 = 16 magnets. Since she uses half as many buttons as magnets, then for 8 earrings she would use 16 / 2 = 8 buttons. Since she uses three times as many gemstones as buttons, then in 8 earrings, she will use 8 * 3 = 24 gemstones. The answer is 24.