
1
56
CHAPTER 4 Nominal and Effective Interest Rates
4.26 The patriot missile, developed by Lock-
heed Martin for the
U.S. Army, is designed
to
shoot down aircraft and other missiles.
The
Patriot Advanced Capability-3 was
originally promised
to
cost $3.9 billion,
but due to extra time needed
to
write
computer code and scrapped tests (due to
high winds) at White Sands Missile
Range, the actual cost was much higher.
If
the total project development time was
10
years and costs increased at a rate
of
0.5% per month, what was the final cost
of
the project?
4.27 Video cards based on Nvidia's highly
praised GeForce2 GTS processor typi-
cally cost $250. Nvidia released a light
version
of
the chip that costs $150.
If
a
certain video game maker was purchasing
3000 chips per quarter, what was the pre-
sent worth
of
the savings associated with
the cheaper chip over a 2-year period at an
interest rate
of
16% per year, compounded
quarterly?
4.28 A 40-day strike at Boeing resulted
in
50
fewer deliveries
of
commercial jetliners at
the end
of
the first quarter
of
2000. At a cost
of
$20 million per plane, what was the
equivalent end-of-year cost
of
the strike
(i.e., end offourth quarter) at an interest rate
of
18
% per year, compounded monthly?
4.29 The optical products division ofPanasonic
is planning a $3.5 million building expan-
sion for manufacturing
its
powerful
Lumix DMC digital zoom camera.
If
the
company uses
an
interest rate
of
20% per
year, compounded quarterly, for all new
investments, what
is
the uniform amount
per quarter the company must make
to
re-
cover its investment in 3 years?
4.30 Thermal Systems, a company that special-
izes in odor control, made deposits
of
$10,000 now, $25,000 at the end
of
month
6,
and $30,000 at the end
of
month
9.
Determine the future worth (end
of
year])
of
the deposits at
an
interest rate
of
16% per year, compounded quarterly.
4.31 Lotus Development has a software rental
plan called SmartSuite that is available on
the World Wide Web. A number
of
pro-
grams are available at $2.99 for 48 hours.
If
a construction company uses the service
an average
of
48 hours per week, what is
the present worth
of
the rental costs for
10 months at an interest rate
of
1 % per
month, compounded weekly? (Assume
4 weeks per month.)
4.32 Northwest Iron and Steel is considering
getting involved in electronic commerce.
A modest e-cornrnerce package
is
avail-
able for $20,000.
If
the company wants
to
recover the cost
in
2 years, what is the
equivalent amount
of
new income that
must be realized every 6 months,
if
the in-
terest rate is 3% per quarter?
4.
33
Metro~litan
Water Utilities purchases
surface water from Elephant Butte Irriga-
tion District at a cost
of
$100,000 per
month in the months
of
February through
September. Instead
of
paying monthly, the
utility makes a single payment
of
$800,000
at the end
of
the year (i.e., end
of
Decem-
ber) for the water it used. The delayed pay-
ment essentially represents a subsidy
by
the irrigation district to the water utility. At
an
interest rate
of
0.25% per month, what is
the amount
of
the subsidy?
4.34 Scott Specialty Manufacturing
is
consid-
ering consolidating all its electronic ser-
vices with one company. By purchasing a
digital phone from AT&T Wireless, the
company can buy wireless e-mail and fax
services for $6.99 per month. For $14.99