nvidia-generative-ai-notes

Chain of Thought (CoT) Prompt Examples

A collection of practical prompt templates demonstrating Chain of Thought reasoning.

Zero-Shot CoT (Simplest Approach)

Basic Template

Question: [Your question here]

Let's think step by step.

Example 1: Math Word Problem

Question: A bakery makes 150 cookies in the morning and 200 cookies in the afternoon. 
They sell 85% of the morning batch and 70% of the afternoon batch. How many cookies 
are left unsold?

Let's think step by step.

Expected Output:

Step 1: Calculate morning cookies sold
- Morning batch: 150 cookies
- Sold: 150 × 0.85 = 127.5 → 127 cookies (can't sell half a cookie)
- Remaining: 150 - 127 = 23 cookies

Step 2: Calculate afternoon cookies sold
- Afternoon batch: 200 cookies
- Sold: 200 × 0.70 = 140 cookies
- Remaining: 200 - 140 = 60 cookies

Step 3: Total remaining
- Total unsold: 23 + 60 = 83 cookies

Answer: 83 cookies remain unsold.

Example 2: Logic Puzzle

Question: If all roses are flowers, and some flowers fade quickly, can we conclude 
that some roses fade quickly?

Let's think step by step.

Few-Shot CoT (Providing Examples)

Template Structure

[Example 1 with reasoning]

[Example 2 with reasoning]

Now solve this problem:
[Your actual question]

Example: Arithmetic Reasoning

Q: A restaurant had 23 customers. 15 more customers arrived, then 8 customers left. 
How many customers are in the restaurant now?

A: Let me solve this step by step:
Step 1: Start with 23 customers
Step 2: Add 15 customers who arrived: 23 + 15 = 38
Step 3: Subtract 8 customers who left: 38 - 8 = 30
Answer: 30 customers are in the restaurant now.

---

Q: A store had 48 books. They sold 12 books on Monday and 15 books on Tuesday. 
Then they received a shipment of 30 new books. How many books does the store have now?

A: Let me solve this step by step:
Step 1: Start with 48 books
Step 2: Subtract Monday sales: 48 - 12 = 36
Step 3: Subtract Tuesday sales: 36 - 15 = 21
Step 4: Add new shipment: 21 + 30 = 51
Answer: The store now has 51 books.

---

Now solve this problem:
Q: A parking lot had 67 cars. 23 cars left, then 18 cars arrived, and finally 
5 more cars left. How many cars are in the parking lot now?

A:

Advanced CoT Patterns

Self-Consistency CoT

Generate multiple reasoning paths and choose the most consistent answer:

Question: If you flip a coin 3 times, what's the probability of getting exactly 2 heads?

Generate 3 different reasoning approaches:

Approach 1: [Combinatorics method]
Approach 2: [List all outcomes method]  
Approach 3: [Probability tree method]

Compare the answers and provide the most reliable solution.

Least-to-Most Prompting

Break complex problems into simpler subproblems:

Question: A company's revenue grew 20% in Year 1, then 15% in Year 2, and declined 
10% in Year 3. If they started with $1,000,000, what's their revenue after Year 3?

First, let's break this into simpler questions:
1. What's the revenue after Year 1?
2. What's the revenue after Year 2?
3. What's the revenue after Year 3?

Now solve each step:

Domain-Specific CoT Examples

Code Debugging

Problem: This Python function is supposed to find the maximum value in a list, 
but it's not working correctly:

def find_max(numbers):
    max_val = 0
    for num in numbers:
        if num > max_val:
            max_val = num
    return max_val


Let's debug this step by step:
1. What does the function currently do?
2. What test cases might break it?
3. What's the root cause of the bug?
4. How should we fix it?

Medical Diagnosis (Educational)

Patient presents with: fever (102°F), sore throat, swollen lymph nodes, and fatigue 
for 3 days.

Let's work through the differential diagnosis step by step:
1. What are the key symptoms?
2. What common conditions match these symptoms?
3. What additional questions would help narrow down the diagnosis?
4. What's the most likely diagnosis and why?

Business Strategy

Question: Should a small coffee shop invest $50,000 in adding a bakery section?
Current revenue: $200,000/year. Expected bakery revenue: $80,000/year. 
Expected costs: $30,000/year. Payback period goal: 2 years.

Let's analyze this step by step:
1. Calculate net bakery profit
2. Calculate payback period
3. Consider additional factors (foot traffic, competition)
4. Make a recommendation with reasoning

Tips for Effective CoT Prompts

✅ DO:

❌ DON’T:

Prompt Variations

Different ways to trigger CoT reasoning:

"Let's think step by step."
"Let's break this down."
"Let's solve this systematically."
"Let's approach this methodically."
"Let's work through this carefully."
"First, let's understand... Then..."
"Let's reason through this."

Testing Your CoT Prompts

Try your prompt on these benchmark problems:

Easy:

If John has 3 apples and gives 1 to Mary, how many does he have left?

Medium:

A train travels 60 miles in 1.5 hours. At this rate, how long will it take to 
travel 150 miles?

Hard:

In a class of 30 students, 18 play soccer, 15 play basketball, and 8 play both. 
How many students play neither sport?

When to Use CoT

✓ Best for:

✗ Not ideal for:

Template: Build Your Own CoT Prompt

Question: [Your specific problem]

[Optional: Provide 1-2 examples with reasoning if few-shot]

Let's approach this step by step:

Step 1: [Identify what we know]

Step 2: [Determine what we need to find]

Step 3: [Apply relevant method/formula]

Step 4: [Calculate/reason through]

Step 5: [Verify the answer makes sense]

Therefore, [final answer]

Pro Tip: Combine with other techniques like “show your work,” “explain your reasoning,” or “if you’re unsure, say so” for even better results.