James buys 20 pounds of beef and half that much pork. He uses 1.5 pounds of meat to make meals at his restaurant. Each meal sells for $20. How much money did he make? Give the rationale and then the answer.
Let's think step by step. He bought 20 / 2 = 10 pounds of pork. So he has 20 + 10 = 30 pounds of meat. That means he can make 30 / 1.5 = 20 meals. So he makes 20 * 20 = $400.. The answer is: 400.

Wallace's water heater is twice the size of Catherine's water heater. If the capacity of Wallace's water heater is 40 gallons and it's 3/4 full, calculate the total number of gallons of water they both have if Catherine's water heater is also full with water to 3/4 of its capacity. Give the rationale and then the answer.
Let's think step by step. When 3 / 4 full of water, Wallace's water heater has 3 / 4 * 40 = 30 gallons of water. Catherine's water heater capacity is 40 / 2 = 20 gallons. When 3 / 4 full, Catherine's water heater has 3 / 4 * 20 = 15 gallons of water. Together, when 3 / 4 full with water, Wallace's and Catherine's water heaters hold 15 + 30 = 45 gallons of water.. The answer is: 45.

Darrel is an experienced tracker. He can tell a lot about an animal by the footprints it leaves behind. One day he saw a set of coyote footprints. Based on the impressions, he could tell the animal was traveling east at 15 miles per hour, and that the animal left the prints 1 hour ago. If the coyote continues to travel east at 15 miles per hour, and Darrell hops on his motorbike and travels east at 30 miles per hour, how long, in hours, will it take for Darrel to catch up to the coyote? Give the rationale and then the answer.

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.
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Let's think step by step. If we let x be the amount of time, in hours, it will take for Darrel to catch up to the coyote, then we can figure this out. Because the distance Darrel travels is defined as the length of time Darrel travels (x) and Darrel's speed (20mph), or the expression 2 * x. And the distance the coyote travels is defined as the length of time the coyote travels (x + 1 hour) and the coyote's speed (15 mph), or the expression (x + 1) * 1. And since the distance Darrel and the coyote travel is the same, then 2 * x = (x + 1) * 1. Simplifying the expression, we get 2 * x = x + 1. If we subtract 1 x from each side, we get x = 1, the amount of time in hours.. The answer is: 1.