For a sum of money invested at $4\mathrm{.}2\%$ compounded semi$-$annually for $12$ years state the following values.

$($a$)$ the number of compounding periods

$($b$)$ the periodic rate of interest

$($c$)$ the compounding factor $(1+i{)}^n$

$($d$)$ the numerical value of the compounding factor

$($a$)$ The number of compounding periods is

$($Type an integer or a decimal.$)$