Question

The number of farms in a certain area can be represented by the equation, y = 85,000(0.97)x, where x represents the number of years after 1995. Calculate and show the number of farms in 2020 (x = 25). Does this look like a reasonable number if the initial number in 1995 was 100,000 farms and the number is declining each year?

Answer 1

Once you plug in 25 for x and solve for y, this gives you the number of farms in 2020 based on the formula. The answer must be lower than 100,000 since the problem says that the number of farms is decreasing in order for it to be reasonable.