Question

About 3,500 tourists visit the Granite Falls overlook each year. After the construction of a new nature center with exhibits and hands-on activities, that number is expected to increase 5% each year. Assuming the same growth continues, you can use a function to approximate the number of annual visitors to the overlook x years after the nature center is built.
Write an equation for the function. If it is linear, write it in the form f(x)=mx+b. If it is exponential, write it in the form f(x)=a(b)x.

Answer 1

This is exponential growth (5% multiplicative increase each year).

f(x) = 3500(1.05)^x, where x is years after the nature center opens (f(0) = 3500).