Question

The giant panda population in China is increasing at a rate of 1.5% each year. There are 1864 giant panda in 2014. Write a function that models the panda population since 2014.
(exponential growth & decay)

Answer 1

Given:

Giant panda population in 2014 = 1864

The giant panda population in China is increasing at a rate of 1.5% each year.

To find:

The function that models the panda population since 2014.

Solution:

Since population of giant panda is increasing, therefore the function is the exponential growth model.

The general exponential growth model is:

$P(t)=P_0(1+r)^t$

Where, $P_0$ is the initial population, r is the growth rate in decimal and t is the time period.

Putting $P_0=1864,r=0.015$, we get

$P(t)=1864(1+0.015)^t$

$P(t)=1864(1.015)^t$

Where, t is the number of years since 2014.

Therefore, the required exponential growth model is $P(t)=1864(1.015)^t$.