Chain-of-Thought Prompting

Q: A store has 45 apples. They sell 12 in the morning and 8 in the afternoon.
They receive a shipment of 30 apples. How many apples do they have now?

Let's think step by step.

Explain your reasoning step by step before giving your final answer.

Q: Roger has 5 tennis balls. He buys 2 more cans of 3 balls each.
How many tennis balls does he have now?

A: Roger started with 5 balls.
2 cans of 3 balls each = 2 × 3 = 6 balls
5 + 6 = 11 tennis balls
The answer is 11.

Q: {your question}
A:

Solve this problem 3 different ways. Compare your answers and explain which reasoning is most reliable.

Consider 3 different approaches to solve this problem.
For each approach:
1. Outline the steps
2. Identify potential issues
3. Work through the solution

Then compare approaches and select the best one.

After solving, verify your answer by:
1. Checking if it makes logical sense
2. Working backwards from the answer
3. Estimating to see if it's in the right ballpark

{question}

Think through this step by step before answering.

{question}

Step 1: Identify what's being asked
Step 2: Break down the problem
Step 3: Solve each part
Step 4: Verify your answer

Show your work for each step.

{question}

Approach 1: [reasoning]
Approach 2: [reasoning]
Approach 3: [reasoning]

Which approach gives the most reliable answer and why?