Hey guys could you please tell me what is the faster why to solve this equation. It's a compound interest equation and I'm stuck at the ${ (1 + 0.02) }^{ 24 }$ I really don't know how to proceed in this part. I thought about log, but how can I apply logarithm without touching on the $1500$?
Any help is appreciated, thanks.
Best Answer
You have $P=\frac {1500}{1.02^{24}}$. To get $1.02^{24}$, you can use log tables to get $1.02^{24}=\exp(24 \ln 1.02)$. You can use repeated squaring to get$1.02^2, 1.04^4, \dots 1.02^{16}$ and finally use $1.02^{24}=1.02^{16}\cdot1.02^8$ which only takes five multiplies, or you can get a calculator that does powers. The final value is about $1.608$