Geometry Word Problem Help

Question

In December 2004, the exchange rate of Mexican pesos to American dollars was 9.52 to 1. You paid 450 pesos for a jacket. Use the following model to find the price of the jacket in dollars.

 

Price in Pesos =  9.52 Pesos

___________    _________

Price in Dollars    1 Dollar

 

Have to show work please explain, thank you.

Answer 1

Hi Lizzie,

This is an algebra problem, not geometry, but here goes...

1 dollar = 9.52 pesos

We have a jacket that cost 450 pesos, so how much is that in dollars?

 

This is a unit conversion problem.  We are converting our cost from the units pesos to the units dollars.  To do that, we need the conversion factor from pesos to dollars.  

When setting up a conversion factor, you want to write it out as a fraction, with the units you are converting to (dollars) in the numerator (top) and the units you are converting from (pesos) in the denominator (bottom).  The value of the top and bottom must be the equal.

In this case, we know that 1 dollar = 9.52 pesos.  We are converting from pesos, so that goes in the denominator, and to dollars, so that goes in the numerator.

Therefore, our conversion factors from pesos to dollars is:

1 dollar / 9.52 pesos

 

To convert the amount, we multiply our original value by the conversion factor.

 

450 pesos x (1 dollar/9.52 pesos) 

We can simplify this to (450 pesos x 1 dollar) / 9.52 pesos

The units of Pesos cancel out (because we have pesos in the numerator and the denominator of the fraction) and that leaves us with:

450 dollars/9.52 = 47.27 dollars.

 

Please message me if you have any questions.