Question

Between 1970 and 2000, the population of a city decreased by approximately 2% each year. In 1970 there were 600,000 people. What was the population in 2000? Please show work.

Answer 1

the formula for this would be starting population x (1- rate)^time

starting population is 600,000

rate is 2% which = 0.02 as a decimal

time is 2000 - 1970 = 30 years

put those into the formula to get:

600,000 x (1-0.02)^30

and now calculate it:

600,000 x (0.98)^30 = 327,290.59 round to 327,291 people