You can remove the % sign if you divide the number by 100:

This is because % is defined as 1/100, and the name (per-cent) actually meant this originally!
we can also simplify it: let's divide it by 4:
The answer would be A. 39,300.
I got this by multiplying 34,500 by 2% and getting 690. Since 2018 is 7 years away from 2025, I multiplied 690 by 7 getting 4,830. I added the 4,830 to the original population of 34,500 and got my answer, 39,300. Hope I helped!
A = 1/2h(b1 + b2)
2A = h(b1 + b2)
2A/h = b1 + b2
b1 = 2A/h - b2