Compound Interest: "It is the greatest mathematical discovery of all time" (Albert Einstein)
Compound Interest Example:
The Emperor of China was so excited about the game of chess that he offered the inventor one wish. The inventor replied that he wanted one grain of rice on the first square of the chessboard, two grains on the second square, four on the third and so on through the 64th square. The unwitting emperor immediately agrees to the seemingly modest request. But two to the 64th power is 18 million trillion grains of rice--more than enough to cover the entire surface of the earth. The clever inventor did not gain all the rice in China; he lost his head.
Compound Interest Example:
The Emperor of China was so excited about the game of chess that he offered the inventor one wish. The inventor replied that he wanted one grain of rice on the first square of the chessboard, two grains on the second square, four on the third and so on through the 64th square. The unwitting emperor immediately agrees to the seemingly modest request. But two to the 64th power is 18 million trillion grains of rice--more than enough to cover the entire surface of the earth. The clever inventor did not gain all the rice in China; he lost his head.