Question

Marvin has been tracking the population of velociraptors on Mars. His first count was 8 velociraptors. The population has increased by 24% each year.

a. What is the y-intercept of the velociraptor population?
b. What is the rate of growth or decay for the velociraptor population?
c. What is the function that models the velociraptor population?
d. Sketch the graph of the function

Answer 1

The y-intercept represents the starting population of velociraptors, which is 8. The rate of growth is 24%. The function that models the velociraptor population is P(t) = 8(1.24)^t.

Step-by-step explanation:

a. The y-intercept represents the starting population of velociraptors, which is 8.

b. To find the rate of growth, we can multiply the previous year's population by 0.24 to find the increase. So, the rate of growth is 24%.

c. The function that models the velociraptor population is P(t) = 8(1.24)^t, where P(t) is the population after t years.

d. The graph of the function P(t) = 8(1.24)^t would start at the point (0, 8) and increase exponentially as t increases.