Jacob's college savings are invested in a bond that pays an annual interest of 6.2% compounded continuously. How long will it take for the money to triple?

So you have some initial amount x and we want to know how long it will take with compound interest to triple our original amount x (so 3x). The equation sets up like 3x (the amount we want) = x (original amount) times 1.062 (the interest increase) ^t So 3x=x (1.062) ^t where t is the amount of years. When you divide both sides by x it cancels out and you end up with 3=1.062^t. Take the natural log of both sides. Ln (3) = Ln (1.062^t) and the t being an exponent can come in front of the the natural log. Ln (3) = t (Ln (1.062)) Divide both sides by (Ln (1.062)),. Ln (3) / Ln (1.062) = t. And you should just plug that into a calculator to find t.