SL Math Studies

Financial Math

Hello Everyone!

     So, this past week was the start of a new chapter in my Math Studies textbook and it's on Financial Math. For those of you who do not know exactly what a chapter like this would include, we cover currency exchange, compound interest, inflation, and depreciation. Well, since I started this chapter earlier this week, I've only covered currency exchange and compound interest. At first both of these concepts were foreign to me, but now I'm more comfortable with them.

     In my first test for my Math Studies class, I found several questions about currency exchange that I was really confused about. But after covering the first lesson in this chapter, I know I can answer those questions with confidence. However, this textbook likes to confuse me. Just when I thought I knew how to deal with exchanges, the book decided to throw in buying and selling currency. This would have been easier for me if the book would have given examples, but they only gave me a chart with two confusing terms: "We buy" and "We sell".  This really confused me and I didn't know how to use them until I got the problem wrong. Both of them are used when someone buys or sells their currency.

     The next thing I found interesting was compound interest. Learning about interest rates, the different kinds of interest, and how to calculate it all on my own really made me realize that this chapter is probably going to have a lot of importance when I get older. I remember "complaining" about how I never use any of formulas I've been given and now I can use these formulas even after high school.

Here's a chart that's in my math textbook on the three interest options Shane was given in an example!

- Jordyn K.