A town has a population of 12000 and grows at 3.5% every year. What will be the population after 7 years, to the nearest whole number?
A town has a population of 12000 and grows at 3.5% every year. What will be the population after 7 years, to the nearest whole number?
When you start with 12,000 and add 3.5%, after the 1st year you have (12,000) • (1.035)
Then you start with that new amount and add 3.5%, so after the 2nd year you have [(12,000) • (1.035)] • (1.035)
You can continue that progression to demonstrate that after "n" years, you will have (12,000) • (1.035)n
So after 7 years, the population will be (12,000) • (1.035)7
You can multiply that out by hand or use a scientific calculator to get the answer 15,267.
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