Question

The table below shows the population of the state of Washington for several decades starting in1900.Year1900191019201930194019501960Populationin millions0.521.151.371.571.742.392.86If the population is modeled by an exponential function of the form P(t) = a(b)^t, where t is yearssince 1900, which of the following would be a reasonable value for a?0.522.860.0351900

Answer 1

a represents the initial value of the function. Since the function starts at 1900, the associated population value for this year should be the answer. The answer is 0.52.