Question

A 33 pound bag of grass seed holds 2 pounds less than 5 smaller bags of seed. Find the weight of the smaller bag of seed.

Answer 1

A 33 pound bag of grass seed has = 2 pounds less than 5 smaller bags of seed

= 33 pounds = 2 pounds less than 5 smaller bags

Let the weight of smaller bag of seed be ' x ' . Then ,

= 33 = 5x - 2

= 5x -2 = 33

= 5x = 33 + 2 ( transposing -2 from LHS to RHS changes -2 into +2 )

= 5x = 35

= x = 35 ÷ 5 ( transposing ×5 from LHS to RHS changes ×5 to ÷5 )

= x = 7 = weight of smaller bag of seed

Then , the weight of smaller bag of seed will be 7 pounds . Let us check it by putting 7 in the place of x :

= ( 5 × 7 ) - 2 = 33

= 35 - 2 = 33

LHS = RHS

Therefore , the weight of of smaller bag of seed is 7 pounds .