Final answer:
The total cost of a $4600 loan at 3.62% APR over 8 months is calculated by first finding the simple interest and then adding it to the principal.
Step-by-step explanation:
To calculate the total cost of a loan, we need to compute the interest and then add it to the principal. The question states the principal is $4600, the annual interest rate (APR) is 3.62%, and the time is 8 months.
To compute the simple interest over 8 months, we first convert the annual interest rate to a monthly rate by dividing it by 12 (since there are 12 months in a year), and then convert the time into years (8 months is ⅓ of a year).
Interest = Principal × rate × time
So,
Interest = $4600 × (3.62/100) × (8/12)
Once we have calculated the total interest, we can find the total cost by adding it to the principal.
Total Cost = Principal + Interest