Final answer:
To provide yearly scholarships of $75,000 with a 6.15% interest rate, Sara must contribute $1,219,512 to the trust fund.
Step-by-step explanation:
To determine how much Sara must contribute to the trust fund so that it provides $75,000 in scholarships each year at a fixed 6.15% rate of return, we can use the formula for calculating the principal based on simple interest.
The interest formula earned I is I = P × r × t, where P is the principal amount, r is the rate of interest per period, and t is the time the money is invested for.
Since Sara wants to provide scholarships each year, it will be 1 year. We want the interest I to be $75,000 and r to be 6.15%, or 0.0615 when expressed as a decimal.
Using the formula, we can solve for the principal P:
I = P × r × t
75,000 = P × 0.0615 × 1
P = 75,000 / 0.0615
P = 1,219,512
Therefore, the amount that needs to be contributed to the trust fund is $1,219,512.