Final answer:
After calculating the compound interest for each investment option, Option D ($10,000 at an annual rate of 3.6%, compounded annually for 7 years) yields the highest return of $12,732.84, making it the best investment among the given choices.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question is asking to compare several investment options to find out which one would yield the highest return after a certain period. To determine this, we use the formula for compound interest, which is A = P(1 + r/n)^(nt), where A is the amount of money accumulated after n years, including interest, P is the principal amount (the initial sum of money), r is the annual interest rate (decimal), n is the number of times that interest is compounded per year, and t is the time the money is invested for in years.
Let's calculate the future value for each investment option:
• Option A: A = $10,000(1 + 0.04/4)^(4*6) = $12,703.04
• Option B: A = $10,000(1 + 0.042/2)^(2*5) = $12,252.98
• Option C: A = $10,000(1 + 0.05/1)^(1*4) = $12,155.06
• Option D: A = $10,000(1 + 0.036/1)^(1*7) = $12,732.84
• Option E: A = $10,000(1 + 0.048/12)^(12*5) = $12,706.28
After calculating, we see that Option D offers the highest return on investment after the specified time period.