Find the next number in the sequence

5 12 24 36 ?

John went to a parrot shop in Mexico, and the parrot owner told him that his parrot is so unique that he repeats everything he hears. John got excited and immediately bought the parrot. John went home and spoke many words, but the parrot does not repeat anything.
He went again to the parrot shop and complaint to the shopkeeper, but the shopkeeper never lied. Explain?

Find the mistake in the below maths equations

A = 2
A(A-1) = 2(A-1)
A2-A = 2A-2
A2-2A = A-2
A(A-2) = A-2
A = 1

A swan sits at the center of a perfectly circular lake. At an edge of the lake stands a ravenous monster waiting to devour the swan. The monster can not enter the water, but it will run around the circumference of the lake to try to catch the swan as soon as it reaches the shore. The monster moves at 4 times the speed of the swan, and it will always move in the direction along the shore that brings it closer to the swan the quickest. Both the swan and the the monster can change directions in an instant.
The swan knows that if it can reach the lake's shore without the monster right on top of it, it can instantly escape into the surrounding forest.

How can the swan successfully escape?

Who is that with a neck and no head, two arms and no hands? What is it?

While going to your grandmother's house, you counted Twenty houses on the right side. While returning back to your home, you counted Twenty houses on the left side.

How many houses are there between your home and your grandmother's home?

A wooden log balances equally on the scales when weighed with three-quarters of a pound and three-quarters of a wooden log.

Can you calculate the weight of the entire wooden log?

Rectify the following equality 101 - 102 = 1 by moving just one digit.

Replace the question mark with the correct number, given the pair of numbers exhibits a similar relationship?

? : 3839 :: 11 : 1209

I am thinking of a five-digit number such that:
The first and last digits are the same, their submission is an even number and multiplication is an odd number and is equal to the fourth number. Subtract five from it and we obtain the second number. Then divide into exact halves and we get the 3rd number.

What number I am thinking of?