You have been asked by the president of your company to evaluate the proposed acquisition of a spectrometer for the firm's R&D department. The equipment's base price is $140,000, and it would cost another $30,000 to modify it for special use by your firm. The spectrometer, which falls into the MACRS 3-year class (33%, 45%, 15%, 7%), would be sold after 3 years for an expected salvage value of $60,000. Use of the equipment would require an increase in spare parts inventory of $8,000. The spectrometer is expected to save the firm $80,000 per year in before-tax operating costs (.e. effectively, there is an $80,000 cash inflow each year, excluding depreciation and tax effects). The firm's marginal tax rate is 40%, and the cost of capital is 12%. Evaluate this decision using the NPV decision criteria. Should the firm buy the spectrometer? Yes, the project yields an NPV of $23,684.31 Yes, the project yields an NPV of $25,390.45 Yes, the project yields an NPV of $24,599.59 No, the project yields an NPV of ($2,352.28)