During the hot dog eating contest, the 1st competitor ate 12 hot dogs in 3 minutes. The 2nd competitor ate twice that amount and the 3rd competitor ate 25% less than the 2nd competitor. How many hotdogs did the 3rd competitor eat? Let's think first. Chain of thought:
User
The 2nd competitor ate twice the amount of the 1st competitor's 12 hot dogs So he ate 2 * 12 = 24 hot dogs. The 3rd competitor ate 25% less than the 2nd's 24 hot dogs, which is 24 / 4 = 6 hot dogs. If the 2nd competitor ate 24 hot dogs, and the 3rd ate 25% less than that, then the 3rd competitor ate 24 - 6 = 18 hot dogs.
Therefore, the answer is 18.
Assistant