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Written Assignment Unit 5

University of the People

MATH 1201 College Algebra

Roberto Bianco, Instructor

October 6, 2021
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1. A retirement account is opened with an initial deposit of $8,500 and earns 8.12% interest
compounded monthly. What will the account be worth in 20 years? What if the deposit was
calculated using simple interest? Could you see the situation in a graph? From what point one
is better than the other?

SOLUTION:

What will the account be worth in 20 years?

To determine the account worth in 20 years, we use the compound interest formula:

( rn ) nt
A ( t )=P 1+ where:

A(t) = the account value or final investment = ?

t = is measured in years = 20 years
P = is the principal or starting amount of the account = $8,500
r = is the annual percentage rate (APR) expressed as a decimal = 8.12% = 0.0812
n = is the number of compounding periods in one year = 12

( rn ) nt
But: A ( t )=P 1+

We now substitute the values into: P 1+ ( rn ) nt to find A ( t ) .

12
0.0812
(
A ( 20 )=8,500 1+
12 ) ×2 0
A(20) = 8,500(1+0.00677)^240

A(20) = $ 42,922.27

Hence: The Account Worth in 20 years = $ 42,922.27

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What if the deposit were compounded monthly with simple interest?

Then we would have: A ( t )=P 1+ ( rn ) nt ( r

)
= P 1+ nt =P ( 1+ r t ) as the simple interest
n
formula in which:
P = Principal or starting amount of the account = $8,500
t = years = 20 years
r = Rate expressed as a decimal = 8.12% = 0.0812
We now substitute the values into: P ( 1+ rt ) to find A ( t ) .
A(t) = 8,500( 1+0.0812 ×20 )
A(t) = 8,500( 2.624 )
A(t) = $ 22,922.29

Could you see the situation in a graph? From what point one is better than the other?
Let us establish our function notation from both Compound and Simple Interest
Equations as shown below:
A(t) = 8500 ( 0.00677)12t …………….equation 1.
A(t) = 8500 (1 + 0.0812t) …………….equation 2.

From the above graph, I observed that the green line which represent the compound interest
makes the principal to grow much faster than the simple interest which is the red line.
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Therefore, I must say that the compound interest is profitable than the simple interest because
from the graph, we can see that within a period of the first year, the compounded interest begins
to be more than simple interest.

2. Graph the function   and its reflection about the line y=x on the
same axis, and give the x-intercept of the reflection. Prove that  .
[Suggestion: type   {- 7 < x < 2}  {0 < y < 7} in desmos, and then type
its inverse function.]

SOLUTION:

Let me prove if: a x =e xIna

y = 5 ×0.5−x =5 e− xI n 0.5
y −xI n 0.5
=e
5

¿ ( 5y )=−xIn 0. 5
y
¿( )
5
=x
¿ 0.5
y
¿( )
5
y=
¿ 0.5
From the above, it is true by a property of logarithms that: a x =e xIna . Hence, the first
equality is also true.
Looking at the graph below, we can see that the x-intercept of the reflection: f −1 ( x ) is (5,
0).
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3. How long will it take before twenty percent of our 1,000-gram sample of uranium-
235 has decayed? [See Section 6.6 Example 13]

The decay equation is  , where t is the time for the decay, and K is the
characteristic of the material. Suppose T is the time it takes for half of the unstable
material in a sample of a radioactive substance to decay, called its half-life. Prove
that   . What is K  for the uranium-235? Show the steps of your reasoning.

SOLUTION:

We are given that T which stands for the half-life of the uranium-235 = 703,800,000
years.
Note that:
¿ 0.5
The Radioactive decay formula is: A(t ) = A0e Kt where K= . Hence, the decay
T
formula is: A(t ) = A0e ¿0.5 t . Where:
Ao is the output initially present,
T is the half-life of the substance,
t is the time period over which the substance is studied,
y is the amount of the substance present after time t.
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Using the Radioactive formula to find, “How long will it take before 20% of our 1,000-
gram sample of uranium-235 has decayed”?

A(t ) = A0e ¿0.5 t

¿0.5
y = 1000 e 703,800,000 t
¿(0.5 )
800 = 1000 e 703,800,000 t After 20% decays, 800 grams are left.
¿(0.5 )
0.8 = 1000 e 703,800,000 t Dividing both sides by 1000.
¿(0.5)
(
¿(0.8) = In e 703,800,000 t ) Taking In of both sides.

¿(0.5)
¿(0.8) = In t ¿( e¿¿ M )=M ¿
703,800,000
¿(0.8)
t = 703,800,000 × years Solving for t.
¿(0.5)
t = 703,800,000 ×0.321928
t ≈ 226,572,993 years
Thus, it will take approximately 226,572,993 years before 20% of our 1,000-gram
sample of uranium has decayed.

From the decay equation, let’s find about the constant K for the material:

Algebraically, if A(t ) = A0e Kt .Then,

A(t ) = A0e Kt
A0
= A0e K T Assuming A0 = 1
2
1
= e KT
2
In0.5 = KT
¿ 0.5
K=
T
¿ 0.5
Hence, the constant K for the material is: K =
T

Now, let us define what the constant K for the uranium-235 is:
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¿ 0.5
If T = 703,800,000, using the formuls: K =
T
¿ 0.5
K=
703,800,000
1 ¿ 0.5
K≅ ×
703,800,000 100,0 00,000
1 ¿ 0.5
K= ×
100 , 0 00,000 7

1
K= ×−0.0990210257 9
100,000,000

1
K= ×−0.1
100,000,000

K=−109

Reference

Abramson, J. (2017). Algebra and trigonometry. OpenStax, TX: Rice University.

https://openstax.org/details/books/algebra-and-trigonometry