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Melissa deposited $5000 into an account with a 4.8% annual interest rate, compounded monthly. Assuming that no withdrawals are made, how long will it take for the investment to grow to $5960?

Do not round any intermediate computations, and round your answer to the nearest hundredth.

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4 votes

Answer:

Explanation:

We can use the formula for compound interest to solve this problem:

A = P(1 + r/n)^(nt)

where:

A = final amount

P = principal amount (initial investment)

r = annual interest rate (as a decimal)

n = number of times the interest is compounded per year

t = number of years

Plugging in the given values, we have:

5960 = 5000(1 + 0.048/12)^(12t)

Dividing both sides by 5000, we get:

1.192 = (1 + 0.048/12)^(12t)

Taking the natural logarithm of both sides, we get:

ln(1.192) = ln[(1 + 0.048/12)^(12t)]

Using the property of logarithms that ln(a^b) = b ln(a), we can simplify the right side:

ln(1.192) = 12t ln(1 + 0.048/12)

Dividing both sides by 12 ln(1 + 0.048/12), we get:

t = ln(1.192) / [12 ln(1 + 0.048/12)]

t ≈ 2.55

Therefore, it will take about 2.55 years (or 2 years and 7 months) for the investment to grow to $5960.

Hope that helps :)

User Raoul George
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