A bank offers an annual simple interest rate of 7% on home improvement loans. How much interest would need to be paid if Billy borrowed $18,500 over a period of 3.5 years?

$45,325.00

$18,500.00

$4,532.50

$23,032.50

To calculate the interest, we use the formula:

Interest = Principal * Rate * Time

Plugging in the given values:

Interest = $18,500 * 0.07 * 3.5 = $4,532.50

Therefore, the correct answer is $4,532.50.