Question

The population of the world in 1987 was 5 billion and the annual growth rate was estimated at 1.4% per year. Assuming that the world population follows an exponential growth model, find the projected world population in 2017. Round your answer to 1 decimal place.

Answer 1

Explanation:

Given:-

- The population in year 1987, Po = 5 billion

- Growth rate, r = 1.4%

World population follows an exponential growth model

Find:-

The projected world population in 2017.

Solution:-

- The exponential growth model is mathematically expressed as:

Population in x year = Po* ( 1 + r/100)^( x - xo )

Where, xo: The base year.

- Plug in the values and solve for the projected population in year 2017:

Population in 2017 year = 5,000,000,000* ( 1 + 1.4/100)^( 2017 - 1987 )

Population in 2017 year = 5,000,000,000* ( 1 + 0.014)^( 30 )

`\begin{gathered} =5000000000(1.014)^(30) \\ =16216987550.1377 \end{gathered}`

Therefore the projected world population = 16,216,987,550.1 (1d.p)