Bunuel
Suzy borrows two equal sums of money under simple interest at 10% and 8% rate of interest. She finds that if she repays the former sum on a certain date one year before the latter, she will have to pay the same amount for each borrowing. After how many years did she pay the first sum of money?
(A) 2.5
(B) 3
(C) 3.5
(D) 4
(E) 5
Suppose Suzy borrowed x dollars at each interest rate. Suppose she repaid the 10% loan after n years. Then, she must have repaid the 8% loan after n + 1 years. Since the interest is simple, she will pay x * 0.1 * n dollars in interest for the first loan, and x * 0.08 * (n + 1) dollars in interest for the second loan. We are told that she pays the same amount for each loan, so she will pay the same interest for each loan as well. Therefore we can write:
\(\Rightarrow\) x * 0.1 * n = x * 0.08 * (n + 1)
\(\Rightarrow\) 0.1n = 0.08n + 0.08
\(\Rightarrow\) 0.02n = 0.08
\(\Rightarrow\) 2n = 8
\(\Rightarrow\) n = 4
Answer: D