{"id":214931,"date":"2025-05-16T03:58:13","date_gmt":"2025-05-16T03:58:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/learnexams.com\/blog\/?p=214931"},"modified":"2025-05-16T03:58:16","modified_gmt":"2025-05-16T03:58:16","slug":"a-machine-costs-n3000-and-has-a-lifespan-of-8-years-after-which-it-can-be-sold-for-n600-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/2025\/05\/16\/a-machine-costs-n3000-and-has-a-lifespan-of-8-years-after-which-it-can-be-sold-for-n600-5\/","title":{"rendered":"A machine costs N3,000 and has a lifespan of 8 years, after which it can be sold for N600."},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>A machine costs N3,000 and has a lifespan of 8 years, after which it can be sold for N600.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>An alternative machine costs N4,000, also with a lifespan of 8 years, but its resale value at the end of its life is N1,900.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At what annual discount rate (compounded annually) would it be equally economical to choose either machine? (Ignore taxes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-ast-global-color-1-color\">The Correct Answer and Explanation is:<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To find the <strong>annual discount rate<\/strong> at which both machines are <strong>equally economical<\/strong>, we compare their <strong>present values (PVs)<\/strong> over their 8-year lifespan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Let:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>$C_1 = 3000$, salvage $S_1 = 600$<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>$C_2 = 4000$, salvage $S_2 = 1900$<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>$r$ = discount rate (annual, compounded annually)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Lifespan = 8 years<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>We use the <strong>Net Present Cost (NPC)<\/strong> formula:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>$$<br>\\text{NPC} = \\text{Initial Cost} &#8211; \\frac{\\text{Salvage Value}}{(1 + r)^n}<br>$$<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Machine 1: $NPC_1 = 3000 &#8211; \\frac{600}{(1 + r)^8}$<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Machine 2: $NPC_2 = 4000 &#8211; \\frac{1900}{(1 + r)^8}$<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>To find the <strong>rate at which both machines are equally economical<\/strong>, we equate their NPCs:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>$$<br>3000 &#8211; \\frac{600}{(1 + r)^8} = 4000 &#8211; \\frac{1900}{(1 + r)^8}<br>$$<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Solve:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>$$<br>3000 &#8211; 4000 = \\frac{600 &#8211; 1900}{(1 + r)^8}<br>$$<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>$$<br>-1000 = \\frac{-1300}{(1 + r)^8}<br>$$<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>$$<br>(1 + r)^8 = \\frac{1300}{1000} = 1.3<br>$$<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now solve for $r$:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>$$<br>1 + r = (1.3)^{1\/8}<br>$$<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>$$<br>1 + r \u2248 1.0333<br>$$<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>$$<br>r \u2248 0.0333 = 3.33\\%<br>$$<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u2705 Final Answer: <strong>3.33% annual discount rate<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u270d\ufe0f Explanation (300+ words):<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>In evaluating capital investments like machines, financial analysts often use <strong>discounted cash flow (DCF)<\/strong> techniques to consider the time value of money. Here, two machines have different costs and salvage values but the same useful life of 8 years. To determine which machine is more economical under varying interest (discount) rates, we calculate each machine\u2019s <strong>Net Present Cost (NPC)<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The NPC accounts for the initial purchase cost <strong>minus<\/strong> the present value of the resale value, which is discounted back to the present using the formula:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>$$<br>\\text{Present Value of Salvage} = \\frac{\\text{Salvage}}{(1 + r)^n}<br>$$<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A lower NPC is preferable because it indicates less total cost over the machine\u2019s lifetime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In this problem, we equate the NPCs of both machines to find the discount rate at which both options are equally economical. This gives us:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>$$<br>3000 &#8211; \\frac{600}{(1 + r)^8} = 4000 &#8211; \\frac{1900}{(1 + r)^8}<br>$$<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Solving this equation leads us to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>$$<br>(1 + r)^8 = 1.3 \\Rightarrow r = (1.3)^{1\/8} &#8211; 1 \u2248 0.0333 \\text{ or } 3.33\\%<br>$$<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This means at a <strong>3.33% annual discount rate<\/strong>, the present value of both machines\u2019 net costs is the same. If the actual market discount rate is <strong>higher than 3.33%<\/strong>, the first machine becomes more economical due to its lower upfront cost. If the rate is <strong>lower<\/strong>, the second machine is preferable because of its higher salvage value..<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A machine costs N3,000 and has a lifespan of 8 years, after which it can be sold for N600. An alternative machine costs N4,000, also with a lifespan of 8 years, but its resale value at the end of its life is N1,900. At what annual discount rate (compounded annually) would it be equally economical [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-214931","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-exams-certification"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214931","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=214931"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214931\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=214931"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=214931"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=214931"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}