Suppose you take out a mortgage for
Adollars at a monthly interest rate
Iand a monthly payment
P(To calculate
I: if the annual interest rate is
12%, divide by 12 to get a monthly rate of
1%, then replace the percentage with the decimal fraction 0.01.) Let
A_(n)denote the amount you have left to pay off after
nmonths. So,
A_(0)=Aby definition. At the end of each month, you are first charged interest on all the money you owed during the month, and then your payment is subtracted. So,
A_(n+1)=A_(n)(1+I)-PProve by induction that
A_(n)=(A-(P)/(I))(1+I)^(n)+(P)/(I)