Given the exponential function:

Let's determine if the exponential function represents growth or decay.
Take the exponential function:

Where b is the base.
• If the base of an exponential function is greater than one, the exponential function represents growth
• If the base of an exponential function is between 0 and 1, the function represents a decay function.
Here, the base of the exponential function, b is 1.061 which is greater than 1, the function represents a growth function.
SInce it is represents a growth function, let's determine the percentage rate of increase.
The general formula for exponential growth is:

Where r is the growth rate.
Thus, we have:

The growth rate, r is = 0.061
The percentage rate of increase is:

Therefore, the percentage rate of increase is 6.1%
ANSWER:
The function represents growth
Percentage rate of increase = 6.1%