ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Exponential formula

Hi there! The exponential formula is a way to represent how a number grows or decreases very quickly over time. Imagine you have a magic power to create duplicates of yourself every minute. After 1 minute, there will be two of you. After 2 minutes, there will be four of you. After 3 minutes, there will be eight of you, and so on. This is an example of exponential growth, where each new number is found by multiplying the previous one by a certain factor.

The formula for exponential growth is: y = a x r^x, where y is the final number, a is the initial number (or starting point), r is the growth factor (or rate of increase), and x is the number of steps (or time elapsed).

Let's say you have a starting amount of 10 dollars, and you want to see how much money you would have after 5 years if you invested it at a 5% annual interest rate that compounds annually. You could use the exponential formula to find out:

y = a x (1 + r)^x
y = 10 x (1 + 0.05)^5
y = 12.76

So, after 5 years, you would have approximately 12.76 dollars, which is more than your initial amount because of the effect of compounding interest over time.

I hope that helps! Let me know if you have any further questions.
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