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An extra problem on compound interest to be used for extra credit. This module is part of the Teacher's Guide.

An extra cool problem you may want to use as an extra credit or something

A bank gives i % interest, compounded annually. (For instance, if i = 6 , that means 6% interest.) You put A dollars in the bank every year for n years . At the end of that time, how much money do you have?

(The fine print: Let’s say you make your deposit on January 1 every year, and then you check your account on December 31 of the last year. So if n = 1 , you put money in exactly once, and it grows for exactly one year.)

The money you put in the very last year receives interest exactly once.“Receiving interest”in a year always means being multiplied by 1 + i 100 size 12{ left (1+ { {i} over {"100"} } right )} {} . (For instance, if you make 6% interest, your money multiplies by 1.06.) So the A dollars that you put in the last year is worth, in the end, A 1 + i 100 size 12{ left (1+ { {i} over {"100"} } right )} {} .

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The previous year’s money receives interest twice, so it is worth A 1 + i 100 2 size 12{ left (1+ { {i} over {"100"} } right ) rSup { size 8{2} } } {} at the end. And so on, back to the first year, which is worth A 1 + i 100 n size 12{ left (1+ { {i} over {"100"} } right ) rSup { size 8{n} } } {} (since that initial contribution has received interest n times).

So we have a Geometric series:

S = A 1 + i 100 size 12{ left (1+ { {i} over {"100"} } right )} {} + A 1 + i 100 2 size 12{ left (1+ { {i} over {"100"} } right ) rSup { size 8{2} } } {} + ... + A 1 + i 100 n size 12{ left (1+ { {i} over {"100"} } right ) rSup { size 8{n} } } {}

We resolve it using the standard trick for such series: multiply the equation by the common ratio, and then subtract the two equations.

1 + i 100 size 12{ left (1+ { {i} over {"100"} } right )} {} S = A 1 + i 100 2 size 12{ left (1+ { {i} over {"100"} } right ) rSup { size 8{2} } } {} + ... + A 1 + i 100 n size 12{ left (1+ { {i} over {"100"} } right ) rSup { size 8{n} } } {} + A 1 + i 100 n + 1 size 12{ left (1+ { {i} over {"100"} } right ) rSup { size 8{n+1} } } {}

S = A 1 + i 100 size 12{ left (1+ { {i} over {"100"} } right )} {} + A 1 + i 100 2 size 12{ left (1+ { {i} over {"100"} } right ) rSup { size 8{2} } } {} + ... + A 1 + i 100 n size 12{ left (1+ { {i} over {"100"} } right ) rSup { size 8{n} } } {}

i 100 size 12{ left ( { {i} over {"100"} } right )} {} S = A 1 + i 100 n + 1 size 12{ left (1+ { {i} over {"100"} } right ) rSup { size 8{n+1} } } {} A 1 + i 100 size 12{ left (1+ { {i} over {"100"} } right )} {}

S = 100 A i size 12{ { {"100"A} over {i} } } {} 1 + i 100 n + 1 1 + i 100 size 12{ left [ left (1+ { {i} over {"100"} } right ) rSup { size 8{n+1} } - left (1+ { {i} over {"100"} } right ) right ]} {}

Example: If you invest $5,000 per year at 6% interest for 30 years, you end up with:

100 ( 5000 ) 6 size 12{ { {"100" \( "5000" \) } over {6} } } {} [ 1.0631 1.06 ] = $ 419,008.39

Not bad for a total investment of $150,000!

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Source:  OpenStax, Advanced algebra ii: teacher's guide. OpenStax CNX. Aug 13, 2009 Download for free at http://cnx.org/content/col10687/1.3
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