Carl works for a newspaper, and wants to write 15 short articles this week. He writes 3 articles on Monday. If Carl works Monday through Friday, how many articles should he write each day for the rest of the week in order to reach his goal?

To find the answer to this problem, we must determine the average number of articles Carl needs to write each day. First, subtract the three articles he has already written on Monday from the total. 15 – 3 = 12 Carl needs to write 12 articles over the remaining 4 days, so divide 12 by 4 to find the average. 12 ÷ 4 = 3 articles per day.