Remember: A minimum payment is the least a bank accepts. It barely cuts what is owed, because most of it goes to the extra. Paying more shortens the road.
Read and answer
Read the story first, then answer.
Pia's shiny bikePia wanted a shiny forty-coin bike and the shop took the card, so the bank paid the shop and forty coins were owed to the bank. In this pretend town the bank adds an extra coin per full ten owed, so forty owed has four full tens and adds four extra a month. A month later a statement came: forty owed plus four extra made forty-four, and at the bottom it said, "Minimum payment: five coins." Five was much smaller than forty-four, so Pia could pay with ease, and the minimum is the least the bank will accept this month. Look where the five coins went: four of them paid the month's extra, and only one was left to cut the forty, so now Pia owed thirty-nine. Next month thirty-nine owed had three full tens, so the extra was three and the minimum four, and after paying it Pia owed thirty-eight. The balance crept down like a snail down a staircase, one coin a month, and at that speed forty coins take forty months. All that time the extra coins kept coming, so added up, Pia paid one hundred four coins for a bike that cost forty. Paying twelve coins every month instead, Pia is free in five months, which is fifty coins in all, for the same bike! A minimum payment is a gate, not a finish line, because it says what the bank accepts this month, not when the debt ends.
1
Pia owes 40, and the bank adds 1 extra coin for every full ten. Count the rings. The extra is coins.
2
The statement says 40 owed plus 4 extra, which is 40 + 4 = .
3
Pia pays the minimum of 5. The 4 crossed coins pay the extra. coin cuts what she owes.
4
Pia pays only the minimum. Look at the table. After month 3 she owes coins.
5
Pia pays only the minimum. About how long until the bike is paid off?
About 8 months40 monthsAbout 20 months
6
Join each way of paying to how long it takes.
1Minimum only
28 a month
312 a month
420 a month
A5 months
B7 months
C3 months
D40 months
7
Look at the bars: the minimum only, then 8, 12 and 20 a month. Which way costs the fewest coins in all?
Minimum only12 a month20 a month
Think, fix and plan
8
Circle every true sentence about a minimum.
It is the least the bank accepts this monthIt clears the debtIt has no end dateMost of it goes to the extra at the startIt is always the same number
9
Number Pia's balance with 12 a month, biggest first.
2 coins
13 coins
32 coins
40 coins
23 coins
10
Pia says: the minimum is the payment that ends the debt. Is Pia right?
YesNo
11
Twelve a month costs 50 coins in all and minimum only costs 104. Twelve a month costs coins less.
12
Write one question to ask when you read a statement with a grown-up.
13
Draw a snail on a staircase. Write 40, 39 and 38 on the steps.
Scan the code at the top to mark this sheet on screenTake a photo of your answers or type them. It is marked for you automatically, and your score is kept.
Answer key · Set A
The minimum payment trap
14 40 has four full tens, so the extra is 4.
244 40 + 4 = 44. The minimum payment is 5 coins.
31 5 − 4 = 1. Only one coin comes off the forty.
437 The balance goes 39, 38, 37: one coin down each month.
540 months One coin a month comes off the forty, so it takes forty months.
61-D, 2-B, 3-A, 4-C The more Pia pays each month, the fewer months it takes.
720 a month 20 a month costs 46 in all. Minimum only costs 104 for a bike that costs 40.
8It is the least the bank accepts this month, It has no end date, Most of it goes to the extra at the start A minimum is the least accepted, with no end date, and mostly the extra at first. It does not clear the debt, and Pia's shrank from 5 to 4.
95, 4, 2, 1, 3 40 + 4 − 12 = 32, then 23, 13 and 2, and then none.
10No A minimum is a gate, not a finish line. It says what the bank accepts this month, not when the debt ends.
1154 104 − 50 = 54.
12Your own words: a grown-up reads it.
Mark each answer, count the right ones and write the score on the sheet.