Question

A gardener at a nursery is filling pots with soil to prepare to

transplant seedlings into these larger pots. Each new pot needs about 27 cubic inches
of soil. The amount of soil s (in cubic inches) it takes to fill p pots is given by the
function s = 27p
a.
The gardener is filling the pots from a bag of soil that contains 3456 cubic
inches of soil. How many pots can be filled from the bag?
b.
Suppose the gardener needs to fill at most 109 pots. How much soil (in cubic
inches) will the gardener need?

Answer 1

a. 127 pots

b. 2,943 cubic inches

Explanation:

To find the amount of pots of soil can be filled, you can use the equation given. s = 3456 in part a

a.

s = 27p

3456 = 27p

divide 3456 by 27 to isolate p

p = 127 pots

Instead of substituting for s like in part a, you can now substitute for p, since you know that you need to fill 109 pots.

b.

s = 27 * 109

s = 2943 cubic inches