Final answer:
The town's population after 2 years is approximately 1.9401 × 10⁴.
Step-by-step explanation:
To find the town's population after 2 years, we can use the formula:
P = P0 * (1 - r)^t
Where:
- P is the population after t years
- P0 is the initial population
- r is the rate of shrinkage per year (9.1% or 0.091 as a decimal)
- t is the number of years
Substituting the given values, we have:
P = 2.35 × 10⁴ * (1 - 0.091)²
P ≈ 2.35 × 10⁴ * (0.909)²
P ≈ 2.35 × 10⁴ * 0.826
P ≈ 1.9401 × 10⁴
Therefore, the town's population after 2 years is approximately 1.9401 × 10⁴.