Question

Given the following exponential function, identify whether the change represents growth or decay, and determine the percentage rate of increase or decrease.
y, equals, 100, left parenthesis, 0, point, 9, 7, 1, right parenthesis, to the power x
y=100(0.971)
x

Answer 1

Because the base 0.971 is less than 1, this is exponential decay.
Each step multiplies by 0.971, i.e. the value becomes 97.1% of the previous value — a decrease of 1 − 0.971 = 0.029 = 2.9% per unit x.