Final answer:
To transform the lives of alternatives to equal lives when they are not the same, one would use the Discounted Cash Flow method, which calculates the present discounted value of future cash flows.
Step-by-step explanation:
If the lives of alternatives are not the same, one can transform them to equal lives using Discounted Cash Flow (DCF). This method involves calculating the present discounted value of future cash flows to make them comparable at the present time. The present discounted value is an indispensable tool of analysis used in various applications beyond finance. It allows businesses and governments to compare current investments against the value of future benefits, such as when assessing capital investments, environmental policies, or determining the value of a series of lottery payments. Therefore, when dealing with alternatives with different life spans, DCF enables a cohesive evaluation by discounting their respective future benefits to a common present value.