Question

Suppose the population of a small town is 567 in 2011. The population decreases at a rate of 1.5% every year. What will be the population of the town in 2020? Round your answer to the nearest whole number.

Answer 1

Start with the original population 567

Every year it decreases by 1.5%, or 0.015

So every year, the population gets multiplied by (1-0.015)

For n years after 2011 , this becomes

P = 567(1-0.015)^(n)

Plug in the appropriate n value and evaluate