Question

the population of a colony grows from 250 in the year 2000 to 400 in the year 2004. what is the average rate of change of population.

Answer 1

Given:

Population of a colony in 2000 = 250

Population of a colony in 2004 = 400

To find:

The average rate of change.

Solution:

Let y be the population of the colony at x year.

The population of a colony grows from 250 in the year 2000 to 400 in the year 2004.  So, the two points are (2000,250) and (2004,400).

Formula for slope or average rate of change is

$m=\dfrac{y_2-y_1}{x_2-x_1}$

$m=\dfrac{400-250}{2004-2000}$

$m=\dfrac{150}{4}$

$m=37.5$

Therefore, the  average rate of change of population is 37.5.