Question

A certain forest covers an area of 4000km ^ 2 Suppose that each year this area decreases by 5.5%. What will the area be after 12 years?Use the calculator provided and round your answer to the nearest square kilometer.

Answer 1

In order to calculate the area after 12 years, let's use the following exponential model:

`A=A_0\cdot(1+r)^t`

Where A is the area after t years, A0 is the initial area and r is the rate of increase or decrease.

So, for A0 = 4000, r = -0.055 and t = 12, we have:

`\begin{gathered} A=4000\cdot(1-0.055)^(12) \\ A=4000\cdot0.945^(12) \\ A=4000\cdot0.50720287 \\ A=2028.8 \end{gathered}`

Rounding to the nearest km², the area is 2029 km².