To find out how much potting soil
Arum will have left over, let's break down the problem step by step.
1. Arum starts with a 5-pound bag of potting soil.
2. He also has 3 more bags of the same size, but each is only 1/2 full.
So, each of these bags contains 5
pounds * 1/2 = 2.5 pounds of soil.
3. Arum wants to fill 7 flowerpots, and each pot can hold 1 1/2 pounds of soil. Therefore, in total, Arum
needs 7 pots * 1 1/2 pounds = 10.5
pounds of soil.
Now, let's calculate the total amount of potting soil Arum has:
- The initial bag contains 5 pounds.
- The 3 additional bags, which are each half full, contain a total of 3
bags * 2.5 pounds = 7.5 pounds of
soil.
Adding the initial bag and the additional bags, Arum has a total of 5
pounds + 7.5 pounds = 12.5 pounds
of soil. Since Arum only needs 10.5 pounds to fill the flowerpots, he will have 12.5 pounds - 10.5 pounds = 2 pounds of
potting soil left over.
ANSWER: 2 pounds