What term describes the amount of money earned by a given capital?

The term that describes the amount of money earned by a given capital is interest. Interest represents the profit that is earned on an investment or the cost of borrowing money. For example, when you deposit money in a bank, the bank pays you interest on that capital as a reward for allowing them to use your funds. This is a fundamental concept in finance, as it reflects the time value of money—essentially, the idea that money available now is worth more than the same amount in the future due to its potential earning capacity.

In contrast to interest, capital refers to the financial resources or assets that are invested or available for investment but does not directly reflect the earnings produced by those resources. Assets are resources owned by an entity that have economic value, and liabilities are obligations or debts that an entity owes, which do not pertain to the earnings from capital. Understanding these distinctions is crucial in the study of engineering economics and personal finance.