Someone plans to invest $10,000 in an account paying 3%

this is definitely a tough question. to solve this, we need either a scientific calculator or some more information such as PVIF/FVIF so that we can simplify some difficult calculations that are not possible even with a simple calculator. this problem involves some basic financial concepts.

your formula gives you the total value of the investments at the end of year 1. but the question is asking for the interest amount that is equal for both investments. therefore the equations should be as under:

interest at the end of first year for first investment = the interest at the end of first year for the second investment

(10,000)(1.015)^2 - 10,000 = x (1.0125)^4 - x
x = 302.25/0.050945337
x = 5932.83

i used excel for calculations. hope this helps.