Answer: year 0 you get 3 * .25^0 = 3 * 1 = 3 year 2 you get 3 * .25^1 = 3 * .25 = .75 year 3 you get 3 * .25^2 = 3 * .0625 = .1875 the numbers are decreasing year after year so you are talking about decay. b^x increases as x increases if b is greater than 1. b^x stays the same as x increases if b is equal to 1. b^x decreases as x increases if b is greater than 0 and less than 1. x is assumed to be greater than or equal to 0.