Final answer:
To calculate the simple interest rate (x), the formula Interest = Principal × Rate × Time is used. Solving the equation with the given values results in an interest rate of 1.6%, which is not among the options provided. The closest option to this value is 2% (Option A), but without further information, this cannot be selected with certainty.
Step-by-step explanation:
The student is trying to find the value of x, the simple interest rate, given that Chris invested $200 and the total interest received after 15 years is $48. The formula to calculate simple interest is: Interest = Principal × Rate × Time. With the numbers from the problem, this becomes $48 = $200 × (x/100) × 15. Solving for x, we follow these steps:
- $48 = $200 × (x/100) × 15
- Divide both sides by $200 × 15 to isolate x: x/100 = $48 / ($200 × 15)
- Multiply both sides by 100 to find x: x = ($48 / ($200 × 15)) × 100
- Calculate x: x = (48 / 3000) × 100
- x = 1.6%
However, since 1.6% is not one of the answer choices and it looks like there may be a rounding or typographical error in the proposed solutions, the closest percentage that a student is likely to choose based on the options given is 2% (Option A). Nonetheless, without additional context or clarification, we cannot definitively select one of the provided answer choices.