Final answer:
Mark can allocate his $30 budget to buy at least 3 notebooks at $5 each and then use the remaining $15 to buy 6 packs of pens at $2.50 each, staying within his budget.
Step-by-step explanation:
Mark's scenario is a typical example of a budgeting problem which involves basic arithmetic to solve. To determine how he can allocate his $30 to purchase notebooks and packs of pens, let's define the cost of notebooks and packs of pens. Each notebook costs $5 and he wishes to buy at least 3, so that's $15 for notebooks. This leaves Mark with $15 to spend on packs of pens. Since each pack of pens costs $2.50, we can calculate the number of packs by dividing the remaining budget by the cost per pack.
Here is the step-by-step explanation to find out how many packs of pens Mark can buy:
Subtract the minimum amount spent on notebooks from the total budget: $30 - $15 = $15 remaining for pens.
Divide the remaining budget by the cost of a pack of pens: $15 / $2.50 = 6 packs of pens.
Therefore, Mark can buy 3 notebooks and 6 packs of pens with his $30 budget.