Question

The population in the town of Fredericktown can be modeled by f(x) = 123,621(0.978), where x is the number of years since 1970. Which phrase best describes this function

linear growth
linear decay
exponential growth
exponential decay

Answer 1

exponential decay

Explanation:

it's decay because 0.978 is less than 1

if the value of 0.978 was greater than 1 than it would've been exponential growth

value of 0.978 represents the rate at which the population in Fredericktown is decreasing each year.

since 1970, the population of Fredericktown is decreasing by approximately 2.2% (100% - 97.8%) of its previous year's value.

Therefore, the rate of decrease in the population each year can be described as 2.2% or 0.978, which is the base of the exponential function.

chatgpt