Question

In 2003 a town’s population was 1431. By 2007 the population had grown to 2134. Assume the population is changing linearly.How much did the population grow between the year 2003 and 2007?How long did it take the population to grow from 1431 people to 2134 people?What is the average population growth per year?What was the population in the year of 2000?Find the equation for the population, P, of the town t years after 2000.Using your equation predict the population of the town in 2014

Answer 1

We will have the following:

First, we will have that the population change by:

$\Delta P=2134-1431\Rightarrow\Delta P=703$

So, the population changed by 703 people.

It took the follwoing number of years to change from 1431 to 2134:

$\Delta y=2007-2003\Rightarrow\Delta y=4$

So, it took 4 years to changes from 1431 to 2134.

$m=\frac{2134-1431}{2007-2003}\Rightarrow m=175.75$

The average population growth per year is of 175.75 people per year.

The population in 2000 would have been:

$P_{2000}=\frac{2000\cdot1431}{2003}\Rightarrow P_{2000}=1428.856715\ldots$

$\Rightarrow P_{2000}\approx1429$

So, the population in 2000 would have been approximately 1429 people.

We will have that the equation for the population would be:

$P=(\frac{2134-1431}{2007-2003})t+1429\Rightarrow P=\frac{703}{4}t+1429$

So, the equation would be:

$P=175.75t+1429$

Now, we predict the number of people of the town in 2014:

$P_{2014}=175.75(14)+1429\Rightarrow P_{2014}=3889.5$

$\Rightarrow P_{2014}\approx3890$

So, there will be approximately 3890 people of the town in 2014.