Futurama and Interest

In the Futurama episode “A Fistful of Dollars” Fry finds out that after 1000 years of being frozen, the $0.93 in his bank account has turned into $4.3 billion, with an interest rate of 2.25%. Is this accurate? How much would be in the account after 1000 years?

This depends on how interest is calculated. The most basic type of interest is simple interest. This type lets you gain interest on the money invested, but not gain interest on the interest. So it doesn’t compound. As an example, if you invest $1000 at a 2% interest, you will get $20 each year (2% of $1000). For this type of interest, we find the amount in the account by using the formula P + Prt, where P is the initial amount, r is the rate, and t is the time in years. Using this approach, Fry would have 0.93 + 0.93*.0225*1000, or $21.86. This isn’t close to the $4.3 billion the show claims, but this is also only the most basic type of interest.

Compound interest allows you to gain interest on the money invested, and gain interest on the interest. Let’s suppose you invested $1000, and got $20 in interest after the first year. In the second year, you will gain interest on the new balance, $1020. This will compound the interest, causing the amount to increase every year. How often this type of interest is compounded will change the amount of money in the account. The amount in the account is calculated using P(1 + r/n)^nt, where P is the initial amount invested, r is the rate, t is the time in years, and n is the number of times a year the interest is compounded.

Let’s suppose the interest is compounded yearly. The amount in the account after 1000 years would then be 0.93*(1 + .0225/1)^(1*1000), or $4,283,508,449.71. This is much closer to the $4.3 billion the show claimed. What if instead, the interest is compounded quarterly, or four times a year? In this case, we would have n = 4, and the amount in the account would be 0.93*(1 + .0225/4)^(4*1000), or $5,160,938,941.06, approximately $5.2 billion. This is significantly more, but isn’t even the most you could gain.

The highest account balance would occur if the interest is compounded continuously. In this case, the amount in the account would be Pe^(rt), where P is the original amount, r is the rate, t is the time in years, and e is Euler’s number, approximately 2.718. In this case, the amount in the account would be 0.93e^(.0225*1000), or $5,496,785,518.61, approximately $5.5 billion!

"I know the syllabus says this, but can I have the opposite?"

About 2-3 times a semester, a student comes to me with this type of question. They have done their research, and know exactly what the syllabus states. They even point to the exact policy, and then ask if I can make an exception and do the exact opposite.

The answer I give to this question is always the same. “If I make an exception for you, I have to do give everyone an exception to make it fair. So why have that policy in the first place?” I get that things came up. It may have been a rough semester for the student. However, that doesn’t mean one student can get preferential treatment over the rest of the class. In my own experience, students try to argue their case even more, and get upset when I stick to the syllabus. If a policy is in the syllabus, you should expect it to be enforced.

"We never covered this!"

I get this a lot during an exam. A student sees a problem and insists that type of problem was never covered in class. This is almost always false. Typically, once the exam is turned in, I point out exactly when we covered this topic or this type of problem. I then usually get a response of “I wasn’t here that day.” That doesn’t mean it will not be on the exam.

If you miss class, it is your responsibility to learn what it was that you missed. You can check a previous blog on what you should do if you miss a class. If you miss a class, you are still responsible for that information.

I will rarely put a question on an exam that wasn’t directly covered in class. When I do, it still uses topics that we have discussed. I am testing your ability to use the information that we learned, and apply it in various situations. While students tend to not like this, one of the main points of a college class is to get you to use the information in various situations. In real life, every problem is not going to be exactly like the set up covered in class. It is good to be able to apply this information.

"When are your office hours?"

This seems like an innocent question. You want to go see your professor, and want to check when they will be available. But it is typically an annoying question for a professor. Most professors have posted their office hours on their syllabus and on the class website. In addition, many of them also regularly mention them in class.

Asking this question shows you have put very little thought into meeting with the professor. Rather than asking this question, you should check the syllabus and class site to determine when these office hours are. If you want to verify that they will actually be in their office and available during that time, it would be much better to ask “I want to stop by to talk about (thing). Is (this day and time) a good time to stop by?” It shows you have put thought into this question and this meeting.

"Can I turn this in late?"

Students asking if they can turn in an assignment late is often the result of them trying to do the assignment last minute, and then realizing that it is going to take them longer than expected.

If you have a documented reason for not being able to turn the assignment in on time, it is worth reaching out to the professor. Explain the situation, and include any documentation that you may have. However, if you need extra time because you forgot about it, didn’t have enough time to finish it, wanted to prioritize another class, or a similar reason, I would not advise it.

Professors typically have assignments up at least a week before they are due. I often hear students tell me about how they had another big assignment due that day, or they had a test the next day and were trying to study for it. However, they had a week (or longer) to do the assignment. Why was it put off until the last day, or even later than that?

Students also don’t realize that by turning in something late, it creates extra work for the professor. If they have already graded the assignment, and then you turn it in, they have to go back and grade it. It is much easier to grade a stack of them at once, than it is to grade a single assignment, at least in my opinion.

Some professors don’t mind late work, but most do. Ultimately, unless you have a documented reason for not finishing the homework, you should check the syllabus on the policy for the course. In addition, don’t put off assignments until the day they are due.

"Can you round my grade up?"

Students will ask about rounding a grade up often. Sometimes they are less than a point away from the next grade. Other times, they will ask you to add an additional 5, 10, 15, or even more points to their grade. Either way, what you are telling your professor is “I know I didn’t earn this grade, but can you give it to me anyway?”

No matter how close you are to earning the next grade, you didn’t earn that grade. Grade cut-offs are there for a reason. Some professors may examine borderline cases and round them up if they feel it is appropriate. However, asking for this grade bump will pretty much guarantee that your grade does not get rounded up. In addition, why are you so special that you deserve a grade bump, but no one else in the class does?

This question often (although not always) comes with a story of how the student will lose a scholarship, not be accepted into some program, or lose their student visa. But one class will not affect these things. If you are on the verge of this, that means all of your classes are consistently low. These sorts of programs look at overall GPA, not individual classes. If you know you are on the verge of losing a scholarship, or not being accepted into a program, you should be reevaluating how you are performing in your classes, and why you are getting lower grades rather than begging for points that you didn’t earn. These things aren’t a surprise at the end of the semester. It is something you have been aware of before the last week of class, or after final exams are graded. If you are really concerned, meet with your professor early and often to make sure you earn the grade you want in the course.

"When will we find out our grades for the test?"

I often get asked this question immediately after students turn in an exam. They want to know when grades will be posted and when they will have the results. I can understand that a lot of students are anxious about finding out how well they did. This is especially true towards the end of the semester, where they might need a certain grade on the exam to get the grade they want in the course.

However, it can be a really difficult question to answer. The truth is, I don’t know when I will have them graded. I also have three other courses that I need to grade for, lessons I need to plan, emails I need to answer, and at some point I should probably spend some time with my family. I personally try to prioritize getting exams back as soon as I can, but that doesn’t always work out the way I would like. Students have to remember that professors are people too. We understand that you want to know how you did. We will get to it as soon as we can. But this isn’t the only task on our increasingly long to-do list.

"Is this going to be on the test?"

Asking “Is this going to be on the test?” is a commonly asked question by students. However, it is arguably one of the most annoying questions for the professor. Asking this question tells an instructor that you don’t care about the material they are teaching, and only want to learn what is absolutely necessary to pass the course. In addition, chances are high that the professor hasn’t written the exam yet, and doesn’t know the proper answer to this question.

If a professor answers yes to this question, that tells a student exactly what is on the exam. This is not what (most) professors want. They want to see how much of the material you have learned or understood. Telling you exactly what you need to learn and study defeats the purpose. In addition, if they later decide not to add the topic to the exam, students may complain that they studied something unnecessarily (also something you should never do).

If the professor answers no, that means a student will not learn it. This is not at all what the professor wants. It means the students will completely disregard a portion of the course. If they do that, then what is the point of teaching that particular topic? As I stated before, the instructor may not have written the test yet. What if they later decide they do want to include this particular topic?

In general, this is not a good question to ask an instructor. You should assume that anything you have covered in the class is fair game to include on the exam. If you are really worried about a particular topic, explain this to the instructor, and request a meeting to clear up any confusion. If the professor suggests meeting after the exam, this is probably a good indication that it will not be on the exam. In addition, even if it is not on the next exam, it may still be on the final.

"Did I miss anything?"

When a student misses a class, whether for legitimate or non-legitimate reasons, they often come to the instructor and ask the dreaded question “Did I miss anything?” In general, professors hate this question. It implies that there are days in the class that are completely pointless.

Instead of coming to your professor to ask what was missed, here is a list of things you should do first. While doing these things, try to make a list of anything that you don’t understand.

• Check your class website. If there are videos for the class, start by watching them. If there are slides or other notes, go through them.

• Check with a classmate and get any notes for the class that day.

• Read the section(s) of the textbook covered by that class. If you are unsure what these are, check the syllabus or class calendar.

Once you have done these things, you have a list of any topics that are still a point of confusion. It is at this point you should schedule a meeting with your professor. Bring your list of specific topics or questions. This will definitely help you get on the professor’s good side!