A hospital sends an invoice to a patient. The patient schedules a payment plan in which she makes an initial payment of $1,451 the first month and then pays one-third of the previous month’s payment each of the following months until the invoice is paid in full. Approximately how much of the invoice will be paid after the fourth month?

Question

A hospital sends an invoice to a patient. The patient schedules a payment plan in which she makes an initial payment of $1,451 the first month and then pays one-third of the previous month’s payment each of the following months until the invoice is paid in full. Approximately how much of the invoice will be paid after the fourth month?

$1,451.00
$2,095.89
$2,149.63
$2,167.54

Answer 1

To determine the payment for each month, we'll calculate one-third of the previous month's payment:

Month 1: $1,451.00
Month 2: 1/3 * $1,451.00 = $483.67
Month 3: 1/3 * $483.67 = $161.22
Month 4: 1/3 * $161.22 = $53.74

Adding up the payments for the first four months:

$1,451.00 + $483.67 + $161.22 + $53.74 = $2,149.63

Therefore, approximately $2,149.63 of the invoice will be paid after the fourth month.

The correct answer is $2,149.63.