Question

A missionary commissioned to South Africa had to exchange his $500 for the South African Rand which is worth 12.63 for every dollar. How many Rand did he have after the exchange?

Short answer

They will have around 6,315 South African Rand after exchange.

Step-by-step solution

Step 1. Given Information:

The missionary have to exchange $500 US dollars,

$1 US dollars is equal to 12.63 South African Rand .

:Translate into a proportion :

Need to take care of the units while translate into a proportion,

$\frac{SouthAfricanRand}{USdollars}=\frac{SouthAfricanRand}{USdollars}$

Let x be the South African Rand after exchanging $500 US dollars,

Proportion, $\frac{\mathbf{12}\mathbf{.}\mathbf{63}}{\mathbf{1}}\mathbf{=}\frac{\mathbf{x}}{\mathbf{500}}$

Step 3. Solve Proportion : 

$\frac{\mathbf{12}\mathbf{.}\mathbf{63}}{\mathbf{1}}\mathbf{=}\frac{\mathbf{x}}{\mathbf{500}}$

Multiply both sides by the LCD(Lowest common denominator ) = 500.

$500\times \left(\frac{12.63}{1}\right)=500\times \left(\frac{x}{500}\right)$

Remove common factors on each side.

$$\begin{gathered} 500\times \left(\frac{12.63}{1}\right)=\cancel{500}\times \left(\frac{x}{\cancel{500}}\right) \\ x=500\times 12.63 \\ x=6,315SouthAfricanRand. \end{gathered}$$