Question

Over the past ten years, the towns population doubled in size. the population is currently 12,000. what was the population ten years ago?

which of the following represents the given word problem if “P” represents the population ten years ago?
1. P=2(12,000)
2. 2P=12,000
3. 2(P+10)=12,000

Answer 1

If P represents the population ten years ago, the current population can be expressed as: 2P = 12,000 (or: 2 x 6,000 = 12,000). Over the past ten years, the town's population doubled in size. The population is currently 12,000. Therefore the population ten years ago was 12,000 divided by 2 = 6000.

Explanation: