Melis, holding a piece of modeling clay, divides each piece of modeling clay she has into 2 pieces at each step, and after the 3rd step she has 8 pieces of modeling clay.
If Melis had divided each piece of modeling clay she had into 3 pieces instead of 2 at each step from the beginning, how many pieces of modeling clay would she have after the 4th step?
A) 12\\
B) 36\\
C) 51\\
D) 72\\
E) 81