AS June 2023 Q4

EdexcelCurrent spec9 marksRecurrence Relations

4. A student takes out a loan for £1000 from a bank.

The bank charges 0.5% monthly interest on the amount of the loan yet to be repaid.

At the end of each month

  • the interest is added to the loan
  • the student then repays £50

Let \(U_n\) be the amount of money owed \(n\) months after the loan was taken out.

The amount of money owed by the student is modelled by the recurrence relation

\[U_n = 1.005U_{n-1} - A \qquad U_0 = 1000 \qquad n \in \mathbb{Z}^+\]

where \(A\) is a constant.

(a)
(i) State the value of the constant \(A\).
(ii) Explain, in the context of the problem, the value 1.005
(2)

Using the value of \(A\) found in part (a)(i),

(b) solve the recurrence relation\[U_n = 1.005U_{n-1} - A \qquad U_0 = 1000 \qquad n \in \mathbb{Z}^+\] (5)
(c) Hence determine, according to the model, the number of months it will take to completely repay the loan. (2)