If you invested $10,000 at 5% simple interest for 10 years, you would receive $500 in interest every year, for a total of $5,000 in earned interest at the end of year 10. This would make your total of ...

Sean Ross is a strategic adviser at 1031x.com, Investopedia contributor, and the founder and manager of Free Lances Ltd. Suzanne is a content marketer, writer, and fact-checker. She holds a Bachelor ...

Sean Ross is a strategic adviser at 1031x.com, Investopedia contributor, and the founder and manager of Free Lances Ltd. Anthony Battle is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional. He earned the ...

What these two processes share is baked into the math of each. In fact, in that respect, they're nearly identical. They both involve some stuff (atoms or money) that is either growing or shrinking.