A city with a population of 1,000,000 is growing at a rate of 15% per decade. The population of the city can be predicted using the exponential growth formula p(d)=1,000,000(1+0.15)d

, where d is the number of decades past the current year. Which of the following formulas would more specifically predict the population based on 2-year increments rather than a 10-year increment?(1 point)
Responses

p(d)=1,000,000(1+0.03)d
p left parenthesis d right parenthesis equals 1,000,000 left parenthesis 1 plus 0.03 right parenthesis superscript d baseline

p(d)=1,000,000(5+0.15)d
p left parenthesis d right parenthesis equals 1,000,000 left parenthesis 5 plus 0.15 right parenthesis superscript d baseline

p(d)=1,000,000(1+0.05)d
p left parenthesis d right parenthesis equals 1,000,000 left parenthesis 1 plus 0.05 right parenthesis superscript d baseline

p(d)=1,000,000(1+0.60)d

1 answer

To convert the population growth formula from a decade basis to a 2-year basis, first, we need to determine the growth rate for every 2 years.

The original growth rate is 15% per decade (10 years). This can be expressed as a growth factor of \(1 + 0.15 = 1.15\).

To find the equivalent growth rate for each 2-year period, we use the formula for compound growth:

\[ (1 + r)^{n} = 1.15 \quad \text{where } n = \frac{10}{2} = 5 \text{ (because there are 5 increments of 2 years in 10 years)} \]

We need to find \(r\) such that:

\[ (1 + r)^{5} = 1.15 \]

To find \(1 + r\), we can take both sides to the power of \(1/5\):

\[ 1 + r = (1.15)^{\frac{1}{5}} \]

Calculating \( (1.15)^{\frac{1}{5}} \):

\[ 1 + r \approx 1.02899 \]

Thus,

\[ r \approx 0.02899 \]

This means that the growth rate every 2 years is approximately 0.02899, or about 2.9%.

Therefore, the formula for the population in terms of \(d\) (where \(d\) is the number of 2-year increments) would be:

\[ p(d) = 1,000,000(1 + 0.029)d \]

Out of the options provided, none match directly to \(p(d) = 1,000,000(1 + 0.029)^d\), but the closest choice would be approximately:

\[ p(d) = 1,000,000(1 + 0.03)^d \]

Thus, the correct response is:

p(d) = 1,000,000(1 + 0.03)^d