Dylan invested $7,200 in an account paying an interest rate of 2.3% compounded quarterly. Assuming no deposits or withdrawals are made, how much money, to the nearest dollar, would be in the account after 12 years?



Answer :

Sure, let's solve this compound interest problem step by step.

Given:
- Principal amount ([tex]\( P \)[/tex]) = [tex]$7,200 - Annual interest rate (\( r \)) = 2.3% (which is 0.023 in decimal form) - Number of times the interest is compounded per year (\( n \)) = 4 (quarterly) - Number of years (\( t \)) = 12 The formula for compound interest is: \[ A = P \left(1 + \frac{r}{n}\right)^{nt} \] 1. Substitute the given values into the formula: \[ A = 7200 \left(1 + \frac{0.023}{4}\right)^{4 \times 12} \] 2. Simplify the expression inside the parentheses: \[ 1 + \frac{0.023}{4} = 1 + 0.00575 = 1.00575 \] 3. Raise this value to the power of \( 4 \times 12 \): \[ (1.00575)^{48} \] 4. Multiply the principal amount with the resulting value: \[ A = 7200 \times (1.00575)^{48} \] 5. Calculate the final amount: \[ A \approx 9481.007193983489 \] 6. Round the final amount to the nearest dollar: \[ A \approx 9481 \] So, after 12 years, Dylan would have approximately $[/tex]9,481 in the account.