Thread: Can someone please help me answer these questions?

This is my 4th math class that I have taken in college. I have either failed, or gotten a lower grade than would transfer over to the schools i transferred too. I failed my summer math class, and just had to spend $1500 to take this online class, which is the same as the summer class that I failed. I am a Graphic Design major and was supposed to graduate in May but because of this math class, I can't graduate. I just want to be done with school and math. I hate it so much and will never understand it as you can see. The following are the problems I need help with. Any input would be great. If I could just get them solved that would be even more awesome, because I'm done trying to understand.
Thanks!

36. Suppose that you save for retirement by contributing the same amount each month from your 23rd birthday until your 65th birthday, in an account that pays a steady 4% annual interest compounded monthly.

a) How much will be in your fun at age 65 if you save $100 a month?

b) How much will be in your fund if you get a steady return of 7.5% compounded monthly?

c) How much will be in your fund if you get a steady return of 10% compounded monthly? (This is comparable to the average annual return on the New York Stock Exchange from 1950-2000)

39. Many young people do not start saving right away for retirement, although by the time that they do, they may be earning more and thus be able to afford to save more each month. How much will be in your fund at age 65 if you don’t start saving until age 35 and at that age, start saving $100 per month in an account paying a steady 6% annual interest compounded monthly?

54. A 1963 Chevy Bel Air, a classic car today, cost $2400 new in mid-1963. How much would that be in 2012 dollars?

58. If inflation had been 3% each year from 2002 – 2012, what would the CPI have been in 2012?

Calculate the CPI for this year and for 5 years from now. Project the price 5 years from now of a gallon of gas

4) Dollhouses and their furnishings are usually built to a scale of exactly 1in to 1ft, meaning that an item 1ft long in a real house is 1in. long in a dollhouse.

a) What is the linear scaling factor for a dollhouse?

b) If a dollhouse were made of the same materials as a real house, how would their weights compare?

10) Criticize the following statement and write a correct version.
“The war funding bill…passed this week, but with three times fewer Democrats voting for it than did the last year.”

Not everybody has to be a math type. I wish every success with this.

I'm not that surprised you haven't had replies yet ... your questions need more context. I'll do what I can.

36 and 39. In calculus, we learn how to calculate compound interest, usually assuming instantaneous compounding. That's actually simpler, if you're a pure math type. In real life, I assume these problems would be solved with a spreadsheet, that is, there would be a separate calculation for each month, using the previous month's result as an input. Not so hard, but a lot of brute-force calculation. I wonder what your class asks you to do exactly? Use a spreadsheet program? If you just want the answers, there are online calculators that will do the math for you. Try Home - English | MyMoney or Yahoo! Finance - Personal Finance | Calculators.

54. You need a conversion factor. I'm guessing your book gives a table. But you can get an online calculator for that also. Try Inflation Rate Calculator- from InflationData.com. It says $2400 in 1963 would be $18,142.51 in 2012 dollars. Of course life has changed so much in 49 years, it doesn't make much sense to say that.

58. What's the base year for the CPI? Been a long time for me, but I seem to remember the Department of Labor BLS once upon a time picked a year when CPI was defined to 100, and all subsequent prices were measured relative to that. I'm guessing your book was published in 2002. It probably gives a CPI for that year. Then all you have to do is multiply that number by 1.03 ten times. Here's a website: Consumer Price Index Archived News Releases The price of a gallon of gas in five years would be whatever it is now (I think I saw 3.45 this morning) times 1.03 five times. A calculator will do that easily.

Dollhouses? I'm not familiar with the term "linear scaling factor," but I assume the number you want is 1/12 (one on the dollhouse, twelve on the "real" house it might resemble.) I think this is usually called "one-inch scale." The scale for volume is the cube of this, 1/1728. The real house that resembles the dollhouse would weight 1728 times as much.

10. I think what you want to say is "one-third as many Democrats voted for it." The meaning seems clear to me. I'd describe that as an error in diction, not math. In any case, we don't usually say "three times fewer."

Hope this helps. And if anybody can correct any errors of mine, or can offer anything better, let me know.