Question

The population of rabbits on an island is growing exponentially. In the year 1990, the population of rabbits was 1200, and by 1994 the population had grown to 1700. Predict the population of rabbits in the year 1996, to the nearest whole number.

Answer 1

Answer:

2023 rabbits

Step-by-step explanation:

The exponential model consists of the following expression:

$y = A \cdot r^{t}$

Where:

$A$ - Initial population.

$r$ - Increase rate.

$t$ - Time

$y$ - Current population.

The initial population and increase rate are, respectively:

$1200 = A \cdot r^{0}$

$A = 1200$

$1700 = 1200 \cdot r^{4}$

$r^{4} = \frac{1700}{1200}$

$r^{4} = \frac{17}{12}$

$r = \sqrt[4]{\frac{17}{12} }$

$r \approx 1.091$

The exponential model that predicts the population of rabbits is:

$y = 1200\cdot 1.091^{t}$

Lastly, the expected population for the year 1996 is:

$y = 1200\cdot 1.091^{6}$

$y\approx 2023.624\,rabbits$