SIDHANCHAL ACADEMY

SIMPLE AND COMPOUND INTEREST 8.1.1 – 8.1.3

Simple interest is paid only on the original amount invested. The formula for simple interest is
I = Prt and the total amount including interest would be A = P + I. In Core Connections,
Course 3, students are introduced to compound interest using the formula A = P(1 + r)n.
Compound interest is paid on both the original amount invested and the interest previously
earned. Note that in these formulas, P = principal (amount invested), r = rate of interest, t and n
both represent the number of time periods for which the total amount, A, is calculated and
I = interest earned.

For additional information, see the Math Notes box in Lesson 8.1.3 of the Core Connections,
Course 3 text.

Example 1

Wayne earns 5.3% simple interest for 5 years on $3000. How much interest does he earn and
what is the total amount in the account?

Put the numbers in the formula I = Prt. I = 3000(5.3%)5

Change the percent to a decimal. = 3000(0.053)5

Multiply. = 795 Wayne would earn $795 interest.

Add principal and interest. $3000 + $795 = $3795 in the account

Example 2

Use the numbers in Example 1 to find how much money Wayne would have if he earned 5.3%
interest compounded annually.
Put the numbers in the formula A = P(1 + r)n. A = 3000(1 + 5.3%)5

Change the percent to a decimal. = 3000(1 + 0.053)5 or 3000(1.053)5

Multiply. = 3883.86

Wayne would have $3883.86.

Students are asked to compare the difference in earnings when an amount is earning simple or
compound interest. In these examples, Wayne would have $88.86 more with compound interest
than he would have with simple interest: $3883.86 – $3795 = $88.86.

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Problems

Solve the following problems.

1. Tong loaned Jody $50 for a month. He charged 5% simple interest for the month. How
much did Jody have to pay Tong?

2. Jessica’s grandparents gave her $2000 for college to put in a savings account until she
starts college in four years. Her grandparents agreed to pay her an additional 7.5% simple
interest on the $2000 for every year. How much extra money will her grandparents give
her at the end of four years?

3. David read an ad offering 8 43 % simple interest on accounts over $500 left for a minimum
of 5 years. He has $500 and thinks this sounds like a great deal. How much money will he
earn in the 5 years?

4. Javier’s parents set an amount of money aside when he was born. They earned 4.5%
simple interest on that money each year. When Javier was 15, the account had a total of
$1012.50 interest paid on it. How much did Javier’s parents set aside when he was born?

5. Kristina received $125 for her birthday. Her parents offered to pay her 3.5% simple
interest per year if she would save it for at least one year. How much interest could
Kristina earn?

6. Kristina decided she would do better if she put her money in the bank, which paid
2.8% interest compounded annually. Was she right?

7. Suppose Jessica (from problem 2) had put her $2000 in the bank at 3.25% interest
compounded annually. How much money would she have earned there at the end of
4 years?

8. Mai put $4250 in the bank at 4.4% interest compounded annually. How much was in her
account after 7 years?

9. What is the difference in the amount of money in the bank after five years if $2500 is
invested at 3.2% interest compounded annually or at 2.9% interest compounded annually?

10. Ronna was listening to her parents talking about what a good deal compounded interest
was for a retirement account. She wondered how much money she would have if she
invested $2000 at age 20 at 2.8% annual interest compounded quarterly (four times each
year) and left it until she reached age 65. Determine what the value of the $2000 would
become.
Answers

1. I = 50(0.05)1 = $2.50; Jody paid back $52.50.

2. I = 2000(0.075)4 = $600

3. I = $500(0.0875)5 = $218.75

4. $1012.50 = x(0.045)15; x = $1500

5. I = 125(0.035)1 = $4.38

6. A = 125(1 + 0.028)1 = $128.50; No, for one year she needs to take the higher interest rate
if the compounding is done annually. Only after one year will compounding earn more
than simple interest.

7. A = 2000(1 + 0.0325)4 = $2272.95

8. A = 4250(1 + 0.044)7 = $5745.03

9. A = 2500(1 + 0.032)5 – 2500(1 + 0.029)5 = $2926.43 – $2884.14 = $42.29

10. A = 2000(1 + 0.007)180 (because 45 · 4 = 180 quarters) = $7019.96

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EXPONENTS AND SCIENTIFIC NOTATION 8.2.1 – 8.2.4
EXPONENTS

In the expression 52, 5 is the base and 2 is the exponent. For xa, x is the base and a is the
5
exponent. 52 means 5 ⋅ 5 and 53 means 5 ⋅ 5 ⋅ 5, so you can write 52 (which means 55 ÷ 52) or
5
you can write it like this: 5⋅5⋅5⋅5⋅5
5⋅5 .

You can use the Giant One to find the numbers in common. There are two Giant Ones, namely,
5 twice, so 5⋅5⋅5⋅5⋅5 = 53 or 125. Writing 53 is usually sufficient.
5 5⋅5
7
When there is a variable, it is treated the same way. x 3 means x⋅x⋅x⋅x⋅x⋅x⋅x
x⋅x⋅x .
x
The Giant One here is xx (three of them). The answer is x4.
52 ⋅ 53 means (5 ⋅ 5)(5 ⋅ 5 ⋅ 5), which is 55. (52)3 means (52)(52)(52) or (5 ⋅ 5)(5 ⋅ 5)(5 ⋅ 5), which
is 56.
When the problems have variables such as x4 · x5, you only need to add the exponents.
The answer is x9. If the problem is (x4)5 (x4 to the fifth power) it means x4 ⋅ x4 ⋅ x4 ⋅ x4 ⋅ x4. The
answer is x20. You multiply exponents in this case.
If the problem is x10 , you subtract the bottom exponent from the top exponent (10 – 4).
x4
The answer is x6. You can also have problems like x10 . You still subtract, 10 – (–4) is 14, and
x− 4
the answer is x14.
You need to be sure the bases are the same to use these laws. x5 · y6 cannot be further
simplified.
In general the laws of exponents are:
xa
xa ⋅ xb = x(a + b) (xa)b = xab = x(a – b)
xb
x0 = 1 x −n = 1
(xayb)c = xacybc
xn
These rules hold if x ≠ 0 and y ≠ 0.
For additional information, see Math Notes box in Lesson 8.2.4 of the Core Connections,
Course 3 text.
Examples

a. x8 ⋅ x7 = x15 b. x19 = x6 c. (z8)3 = z24

x13

x4
d. (x2y3)4 = x8y12 e. = x7 f. (2x2y3)2 = 4x4y6
x −3

27 x 6 x 8 y5 z 2 x5z4
g. (3x2y–2)3 = 27x6y–6 or h. = or x 5 y −1z 4
y6 x 3y6 z −2 y

i. 2 −3 = 1 = 1 j. 5 2 ⋅ 5 −4 = 5 −2 = 1 = 1
23 8 52 25

Problems

Simplify each expression.

1. 52 ⋅ 54 2. x3 ⋅ x4 3. 516 4. x10 5. (53)3

514 x6

6. (x4)3 7. (4x2y3)4 8. 52 9. 55 ⋅ 5–2 10. (y2)–3

5 −3

x5 y4 z2 x 6 y2 z 3
11. (4a2b–2)3 12. 13. 14. 4x2 ⋅ 2x3 15. 4–2
x 4 y 3z 2 x −2 y 3z −1

16. 3–3 17. 63 ⋅ 6–2 18. (3–1)2

Answers

1. 56 2. x7 3. 52 4. x4 5. 59
6. x12 7. 256x8y12 8. 55 9. 53 10. y–6 o 1
y6

64a 6 x8z4
11. 64a6b–6 o 12. xy 13. o x8y–1z4
b6 y

14. 8x5 15. 1

16 16. 1
27 17. 6 18. 1
9

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SCIENTIFIC NOTATION

Scientific notation is a way of writing very large and very small numbers compactly. A
number is said to be in scientific notation when it is written as the product of two factors as
described below.

• The first factor is less than 10 and greater than or equal to 1.

• The second factor has a base of 10 and an integer exponent (power of 10).
• The factors are separated by a multiplication sign.
• A positive exponent indicates a number whose absolute value is greater than one.
• A negative exponent indicates a number whose absolute value is less than one.

Scientific Notation Standard Form

5.32 × 1011 532,000,000,000

2.61 × 10-15 0.00000000000000261

It is important to note that the exponent does not necessarily mean to use that number of zeros.

The number 5.32 × 1011 means 5.32 × 100,000,000,000. Thus, two of the 11 places in the
standard form of the number are the 3 and the 2 in 5.32. Standard form in this case is
532,000,000,000. In this example you are moving the decimal point to the right 11 places to find
standard form.

The number 2.61 × 10–15 means 2.61 × 0.000000000000001.

You are moving the decimal point to the left 15 places to find standard form.
Here the standard form is 0.00000000000000261.

For additional information, see the Math Notes box in Lesson 8.2.3 of the Core Connections,
Course 3 text.

Example 1

Write each number in standard form.

7.84 × 108 ⇒ 784,000,000 and 3.72 × 10–3 ⇒ 0.00372

When taking a number in standard form and writing it in scientific notation, remember there is
only one digit before the decimal point, that is, the number must be between 1 and 9, inclusive.
Example 2

52,050,000 ⇒ 5.205 × 107 and 0.000372 ⇒ 3.72 × 10– 4

The exponent denotes the number of places you move the decimal point in the standard form. In
the first example above, the decimal point is at the end of the number and it was moved 7 places.
In the second example above, the exponent is negative because the original number is very small,
that is, less than one.

Problems

Write each number in standard form.

1. 7.85 × 1011 2. 1.235 × 109 3. 1.2305 × 103 4. 3.89 × 10–7 5. 5.28 × 10– 4

Write each number in scientific notation.

6. 391,000,000,000 7. 0.0000842 8. 123056.7 9. 0.000000502

10. 25.7 11. 0.035 12. 5,600,000 13. 1346.8

14. 0.000000000006 15. 634,700,000,000,000

Note: On your scientific calculator, displays like 4.35712 and 3.65–3 are numbers expressed in
scientific notation. The first number means 4.357 × 1012 and the second means 3.65 × 10–3.
The calculator does this because there is not enough room on its display window to show the
entire number.

Answers

1. 785,000,000,000 2. 1,235,000,000 3. 1230.5

4. 0.000000389 5. 0.000528 6. 3.91 × 1011
7. 8.42 × 10–5 8. 1.230567 × 105 9. 5.02 × 10–7
10. 2.57 × 101 11. 3.5 × 10–2 12. 5.6 × 106
13. 1.3468 × 103 14. 6.0 × 10–12 15. 6.347 × 1014

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