Maria has a total of $12,000 invested in two funds. The first fund pays simple interest at 6%

per year and the other pays simple interest at 7% per year. If the funds earn a combined
$817 in interest in one year, how much does she have invested in each fund?

1 answer

Let's call the amount of money Maria has invested in the first fund "x" and the amount she has invested in the second fund "y".

We know that x + y = 12,000 (since that's the total amount of money she has invested).

We also know that the first fund earns 6% simple interest per year, so the amount of interest Maria earns on that fund is 0.06x. Similarly, the second fund earns 7% simple interest per year, so the amount of interest Maria earns on that fund is 0.07y.

We're told that the combined interest earned on both funds is $817:

0.06x + 0.07y = 817

Now we have two equations:

x + y = 12,000

0.06x + 0.07y = 817

We can use these equations to solve for x and y. Here's one way to do it:

1. Solve the first equation for one of the variables (let's say y):

y = 12,000 - x

2. Substitute this expression for y into the second equation:

0.06x + 0.07(12,000 - x) = 817

3. Simplify and solve for x:

0.06x + 840 - 0.07x = 817

-0.01x = -23

x = 2,300

So Maria has $2,300 invested in the first fund. To find the amount she has invested in the second fund, we can use the equation we found earlier:

y = 12,000 - x = 12,000 - 2,300 = 9,700

Therefore, Maria has $2,300 invested in the first fund and $9,700 invested in the second fund.