Ellis Company issues $8\mathrm{.}5\%,$ five$-$year bonds dated January $1,2021,$ with a $$490,000$ par value. The bonds pay interest on June $30$ and December $31$ and are issued at a price of $$499,953.$ The annual market rate is $8\mathrm{.}0\%$ on the issue date.

Required:

$1.$ Compute the total bond interest expense over the bonds' life.

$2.$ Pepare an effective interest amortization table for the bonds' life.

$3.$ Prepare the journal entries to record the first two interest payments.