At the end of the zeroth year, the population is 200.
At the end of the first year, the population is 200(0.96)¹
At the end of the second year, the population is 200(0.96)²
We can generalise this to become at the end of the nth year as 200(0.96)ⁿ
Now, we need to know when the population will be less than 170.
So, 170 ≤ 200(0.96)ⁿ
170/200 ≤ 0.96ⁿ
17/20 ≤ 0.96ⁿ
Let 17/20 = 0.96ⁿ, first.
log_0.96(17/2) = n
n = ln(17/20)/ln(0.96)
n will be the 4th year, as after the third year, the population reaches ≈176
Since the deepest point of Death Valley is below sea level, its altitude is negative. So, the difference between the altitudes is
Subtracting a negative means to add, so we have
27/100 because you can't simplify 27 and 100 so it's just 27/100
