human
Melanie is a door-to-door saleswoman. She sold a third of her vacuum cleaners at the green house, 2 more to the red house, and half of what was left at the orange house. If Melanie has 5 vacuum cleaners left, how many did she start with?
assistant
How many vacuum cleaners did Melanie have before she visited the orange house? ** First multiply the five remaining vacuum cleaners by two to find out how many Melanie had before she visited the orange house: 5 * 2 = <<5*2=10>>10
How many vacuum cleaners did Melanie have before visiting the red house? ** Then add two to figure out how many vacuum cleaners she had before visiting the red house: 10 + 2 = <<10+2=12>>12
How many vacuum cleaners did Melanie start with? ** Now we know that 2/3 * x = 12, where x is the number of vacuum cleaners Melanie started with. We can find x by dividing each side of the equation by 2/3, which produces x = 18
#### 18