<h3>Part 1:</h3>
So firstly, remember that the <em>a variable is the initial value.</em> Since we start off with 6.08 billion, <u>6.08 billion is the a variable.</u>
Next, since this is a <em>growth by 1.26%</em>, add 1 and 0.0126 (1.26% in decimal form) together to get 1.0126. <u>1.0126 is the b variable.</u>
Putting it together, <u>the function is
</u>
<h3>Part 2:</h3>
Since 2020 is 20 years from 2000, plug in 20 into the t variable of the prior function to solve:

In context, <u>in 2020 the population will be 7.81 billion.</u>