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Sequence 1_ Basic Concepts_

Engineering Economics

Dr. Hassan Ashraf

Engineering Economics _ CU Islamabad _ Wah Campus _ Civil
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Engineering Department _ Class of 2019
 Types of Decisions
Types of decisions engineers take while working on projects:

1. Manufacturing/Execution related decisions.

2. Marketing related decisions.
3. Financing related decisions.
4. Economic decisions.

It is this fourth type that our course is related with.

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 Types of Decisions
One of the important tasks of an engineer is to do with the selection of
machinery that could help transforming the design into reality.

We, therefore, have to keep the capital expense on the procurement of

equipment in perspective.

However, the capital expenditure does not only provide the complete picture
while taking the decision about the procurement of equipment.

It is the expected amount of rents/revenue which will be generated and the

expenses which will be incurred in maintaining the equipment. Taking into
account both revenues and expenses will help us in taking the procurement
decision.
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 Basic Concepts
Interest

Interest is a fee that is charged for the use of someone else’s money. The size
of the fee will depend upon the total amount of money borrowed and the
length of time over which it is borrowed.

An engineer wishes to borrow $20 000 in order to start his own business.
A bank will lend him the money provided he agrees to repay $920 per
month for two years. How much interest is he being charged?

Solution: The total amount of money that will be paid to the bank is 24 x $920
= $22, 080.

Since the original loan is only $20 000, the amount of interest is $22 080 -
$20,000 = $2080.

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 Basic Concepts
Whenever money is borrowed or invested, one party acts as the lender and
another party as the borrower. The lender is the owner of the money, and the
borrower pays interest to the lender for the use of the lender's money. For
example, when money is deposited in a savings account, the depositor is the
lender and the bank is the borrower. The bank therefore pays interest for the
use of the depositor's money. (The bank will then assume the role of the
lender, by loaning this money to another borrower, at a higher interest rate.)

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 Interest Rate
If a given amount of money is borrowed for a specified period of time
(typically, one year), a certain percentage of the money is charged as interest.
This percentage is called the interest rate.

Example 1.2 (a) A student deposits $1000 in a savings account that pays
interest at the rate of 6% per year. How much money will the student have
after one year? (b) An investor takes a loan of $5000, to be repaid in one lump
sum at the end of one year. What annual interest rate corresponds to a lump-
sum payment of $5425?
(a) The student will have his original $1000, plus an interest payment of 0.06
x $1000 = $60. Thus, the student will have accumulated a total of $1060 after
one year. (Notice that the interest rate is expressed as a decimal when carrying
out the calculation).
(b) The total amount of interest paid is $5425 - $5000 = $425. Hence the
annual interest rate is

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 Interest Rate
$ 425 /$5000 x 100% = 8.5%

Interest rates are usually influenced by the prevailing economic conditions, as

well as the degree of risk associated with each particular loan.

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 Simple Interest
Simple interest is defined as a fixed percentage of the principal ( the amount
of money borrowed), multiplied by the life of the loan. Thus,

I = niP………………………………………………………………….. (1.1)

Where I = Total amount of simple interest

n= Life of the loan
i= Interest rate ( expressed as a decimal)
P= Principal

It is understood that n and I refer to the same unit of time ( e.g., the year)

Normally, when a simple interest loan is made, nothing is repaid until the end
of the loan period; then, both the principal and the accumulated interest are
repaid. The total amount due can be expressed as :

F = P + I = P + niP = P ( 1 + ni)………………………………………… (1.2)

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 Simple Interest
Example 1.3 student borrows $3000 from his uncle in order to finish school.
His uncle agrees to charge him simple interest at the rate of 5% per year.
Suppose the student waits two years and then repays the entire loan. How
much will he have to repay?

Using the equation above:

F = $3000[1+ (2)(0.055)] = $3330.

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 Compound Interest
When interest is compounded, the total time period is subdivided into several
interest periods (e.g., one year, three months, one month). Interest is credited
at the end of each interest period, and is allowed to accumulate from one
interest period to the next. During a given interest period, the current interest
is determined as a percentage of the total amount owed (i.e., the principal plus
the previously accumulated interest). Thus, for the first interest period, the
interest is determined as

I1 = iP

and the total amount accumulated is

F1 = P + I1 = P + iP= P (1+i)

For the second interest period, the interest is determined as

I2 = iF1 = i (1+i) P
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 Compound Interest
And the total amount accumulated is

F2 = P + I1 + I2 = P + iP + i (1+i) P= P (1+i)2

For the third interest period,

I3= i (1+i)2 P F3 = P (1+i)3

and so on. In general, if there are n interest periods, we have (dropping the
subscript):

F= P ( 1 + i )n ………………………………………………………….. (1.3)

which is so called law of compound interest. Notice that F, the total amount of
money accumulated, increases exponentially with n, the time period measured
in interest periods. 11
 Compound Interest
Example 1.4

A student deposits $1000 in a savings account that pays interest at the rate of
6% per year, compounded annually. If all of the money is allowed to
accumulate, how much will the student have after 12
years? Compare this with the amount that would have accumulated if simple
interest had been paid.

F = $1000(1+ 0.06)12 = $2012.20

Thus, the student's original investment will have more than doubled over the
12-year period.
If simple interest had been paid, the total amount that would have
accumulated is determined by (1.2) as
F = $1000[1+ (12)(0.06)] = $1720.00

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Thank You

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