A merchant in the port city of Lothal is exchanging bags of spices for copper ingots. He receives 15 ingots for every 2 bags of spices. If he brings 12 bags of spices to the market, how many copper ingots will he leave with?
90 copper ingots
Explanation
This problem involves simple proportions based on the exchange rate provided in the context. The merchant trades spices for copper ingots at a fixed rate. By determining how many units of the base exchange (2 bags) are present in the total amount brought to market (12 bags), we can easily calculate the total ingots received.
Solution Steps
Exchange Rate: The merchant receives 15 copper ingots for every 2 bags of spices.
Number of Sets: To find how many 2-bag sets are in 12 bags, we divide: 12 bags ÷ 2 bags = 6 sets.
Total Calculation: Since each of the 6 sets is worth 15 ingots, the total number of ingots is = 90 copper ingots.