Patrick and Brooklyn are making decisions on their bank accounts. Patrick wants to put money in an account that has a higher interest rate but only gains interest for a short period of time. Brooklyn wants to put the money in an account with a lower interest rate, but it gains interest for a longer period of time. Explain which method will result in more money.

Question

anonymous · Answer

WILL GIVE MEDAL AND FAN!!

anonymous · Answer

kind of ambiguous
you could try it with numbers

anonymous · Answer

say they both invest $\$1,000$one at $5\%$for two years , one at $3\%$ for five year

anonymous · Answer

I'm confused on how to find which makes more money... so you just plugged in random numbers?

anonymous · Answer

the $5\%$ investment will give 
$$1000(1.05)^2$$ and the $3\%$ investment will give 
$$1000(1.03)^5$$ 
see which is bigger

anonymous · Answer

the question has no real answer since it does not say what "higher rate" means exactly, or what "longer" means either
could go either way

anonymous · Answer

so the one with  the lower investment rate 3% would give $150 over 5 years to make the total $1,150. and the 5% investment would give $1,100 over 2 years. so the account with the lower investment rate, but longer investment time would bring in a greater value for the total revenue.

anonymous · Answer

hold on

anonymous · Answer

am i right?

anonymous · Answer

$3\%$ for five years gives this http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=1000%281.03%29^5

anonymous · Answer

$5\%$ for two years gives this http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=1000%281.05%29^2

anonymous · Answer

you can compare which one is larger

anonymous · Answer

3% for 5 years is bigger. so i was right just not exact.

anonymous · Answer

right

anonymous · Answer

thank you!!!

anonymous · Answer

yw