Question

The population of a town grows at a rate proportional to the population present at time t. The initial population of 500 increases by 25% in 10 years. What will be the population in 20 years

Answer 1

Answer:

The population in 20 years will be 781.

Step-by-step explanation:

The population of the town can be modeled by the following equation:

$P(t) = P(0)e^{rt}$

In which P(t) is the population after t years, P(0) is the initial population and r is the growth rate, as a decimal.

The initial population of 500 increases by 25% in 10 years.

This means that $P(0) = 500, P(10) = 1.25*P(0) = 625$

We use this to find r.

$P(t) = P(0)e^{rt}$

$625 = 500e^{10r}$

$e^{10r} = 1.25$

Applying ln to both sides

$\ln{e^{10r}} = \ln{1.25}$

$10r = \ln{1.25}$

$r = \frac{\ln{1.25}}{10}$

$r = 0.0223$

So

$P(t) = 500e^{0.0223t}$

What will be the population in 20 years

This is P(20)

$P(20) = 500e^{0.0223*20} = 781$

The population in 20 years will be 781.