Suppose the U. S. national debt is about $14 trillion. If payments were made at the rate of $3,500 per second, how many years would it take to pay off the debt, assuming no interest were charged? Note: Before doing these calculations, try to guess at the answers. You may be very surprised.

Question

Physics

Shyanne Mcmahon

6 March, 13:52

Suppose the U. S. national debt is about $14 trillion. If payments were made at the rate of $3,500 per second, how many years would it take to pay off the debt, assuming no interest were charged? Note: Before doing these calculations, try to guess at the answers. You may be very surprised.

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Answers (1)

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Aaden Montgomery · Answer 1

It will take 126.84 years to pay off the debt

Explanation:

Total debt = $14,000,000,000,000.00

Paid $3,500 per second

Number of seconds to pay off the debt will be:

14 * 10^12 / 3500

Number of seconds = 4 * 10^9 seconds

Converting seconds to year:

I second = 3.171 * 10^-8 calendar year

Therefore, number of years it will take to pay off $14 Trillion = (4 * 10^9) * (3.171 * 10^-8)

Number of years = 126.84 years