Final answer:
To find the new acreage after a decrease of 3%, you can either subtract 3% of the original acreage from it or multiply the original acreage by 0.97 (1 - 0.03).
Step-by-step explanation:
To find the new acreage after a decrease of 3%, we can use two equivalent expressions:
1. w - 0.03w, which represents subtracting 3% of the original acreage from the original acreage.
2. 0.97w, which represents multiplying the original acreage by 0.97 (1 - 0.03).
Both expressions will give us the same result, which is the new acreage after the decrease.