A car was valued at $35,000 in the year 1995. The value depreciated to $13,000 by the year 2004.

A) What was the annual rate of change between 1995 and 2004?
r
= Round the rate of decrease to 4 decimal places.

B) What is the correct answer to part A written in percentage form?
r
= %.

C) Assume that the car value continues to drop by the same percentage. What will the value be in the year 2009 ?
value = $ Round to the nearest 50 dollars.

1 answer

To solve these questions, we'll start by determining the annual rate of change between 1995 and 2004 for the value of the car.

A) Annual Rate of Change

  1. Let \( V_0 \) be the initial value in 1995, which is $35,000.
  2. Let \( V_t \) be the value in 2004, which is $13,000.
  3. The time period from 1995 to 2004 is 9 years.

The formula for exponential decay is: \[ V_t = V_0 \times (1 + r)^t \]

Where:

  • \( V_t \) is the value at time \( t \)
  • \( V_0 \) is the initial value
  • \( r \) is the annual rate of change (as a decimal)
  • \( t \) is the number of years

We can rearrange the formula to solve for \( r \): \[ r = \left(\frac{V_t}{V_0}\right)^{\frac{1}{t}} - 1 \]

Plugging in the values: \[ r = \left(\frac{13000}{35000}\right)^{\frac{1}{9}} - 1 \]

Calculating \( \frac{13000}{35000} \): \[ \frac{13000}{35000} \approx 0.3714285714 \]

Now calculate \( 0.3714285714^{\frac{1}{9}} \): \[ 0.3714285714^{\frac{1}{9}} \approx 0.7360040824 \]

Subtracting 1 gives us: \[ r \approx 0.7360040824 - 1 \approx -0.2639959176 \]

Rounding to 4 decimal places: \[ r \approx -0.2640 \]

B) Rate in Percentage Form

To convert the decimal to percentage, we multiply by 100: \[ r \approx -0.2640 \times 100 \approx -26.40% \]

C) Value in 2009

Now we need to calculate the value in 2009, which is 5 years after 2004. We'll use the same decay formula:

\[ V_{2009} = V_{2004} \times (1 + r)^t \] Where:

  • \( V_{2004} = 13000 \)
  • \( r \approx -0.2640 \)
  • \( t = 5 \)

Calculating: \[ V_{2009} = 13000 \times (1 - 0.2640)^5 \]

Calculating \( (0.7360)^5 \): \[ (0.7360)^5 \approx 0.2067986836 \]

Now, multiplying: \[ V_{2009} = 13000 \times 0.2067986836 \approx 2688.373886 \]

Rounding to the nearest $50: \[ V_{2009} \approx 2700 \]

Summary of Answers:

  • A) \( r = -0.2640 \)
  • B) \( r = -26.40% \)
  • C) Value in 2009: $2700