Question

In 2002, there were 972 students enrolled at Oakview High School. Since then, the number of students has increased by 1.5% each year. Write an exponential function to model the situation, then find the number of students enrolled in 2014. Is this considered growth or decay?

Answer 1

Answer:

$N(t) = 972(1.015)^{t}$

Growth function.

The number of students enrolled in 2014 is 1162.

Step-by-step explanation:

The number of students in the school in t years after 2002 can be modeled by the following function:

$N(t) = N(0)(1+r)^{t}$

In which N(0) is the number of students in 2002 and r is the rate of change.

If 1+r>1, the function is a growth function.

If 1-r<1, the function is a decay function.

In 2002, there were 972 students enrolled at Oakview High School.

This means that $N(0) = 972$

Since then, the number of students has increased by 1.5% each year.

Increase, so r is positive. This means that $r = 0.015$

Then

$N(t) = N(0)(1+r)^{t}$

$N(t) = 972(1+0.015)^{t}$

$N(t) = 972(1.015)^{t}$

Growth function.

Find the number of students enrolled in 2014.

2014 is 2014-2002 = 12 years after 2002, so this is N(12).

$N(t) = 972(1.015)^{t}$

$N(12) = 972(1.015)^{12}$

$N(12) = 1162$

The number of students enrolled in 2014 is 1162.