Aria buys a new car for $36,000. She learns that every year her car will depreciate in value by 15%. This means that each year her car will be worth 85% of what it was the previous year. Aria tracks how much her car is worth over time.

Create a sequence that describes the worth of Aria’s car each year for 8 years. (Write answers in the form or 2,000 or 1,567.87).

Create a formula for the worth of Aria’s car over time.

Use your formula to find how much Aria’s car is worth in 20 years

1 answer

To create the sequence that describes the worth of Aria's car each year for 8 years, we first need to recognize that the car's value depreciates by 15% each year. This means that after one year, the car is worth 85% of its previous value.

The formula to describe the worth of the car after \( n \) years can be written as:
\[ V(n) = V_0 \times (0.85)^n \] where:

  • \( V_0 \) is the initial value of the car ($36,000),
  • \( n \) is the number of years,
  • \( V(n) \) is the value of the car after \( n \) years.

Now we can generate the sequence for the worth of Aria’s car for the first 8 years:

  1. Year 0:
    \[ V(0) = 36000 \times (0.85)^0 = 36000 \]

  2. Year 1:
    \[ V(1) = 36000 \times (0.85)^1 = 36000 \times 0.85 = 30600.00 \]

  3. Year 2:
    \[ V(2) = 36000 \times (0.85)^2 = 36000 \times 0.7225 = 26010.00 \]

  4. Year 3:
    \[ V(3) = 36000 \times (0.85)^3 = 36000 \times 0.614125 = 22093.50 \]

  5. Year 4:
    \[ V(4) = 36000 \times (0.85)^4 = 36000 \times 0.52200625 = 18872.23 \]

  6. Year 5:
    \[ V(5) = 36000 \times (0.85)^5 = 36000 \times 0.4437053125 = 15973.40 \]

  7. Year 6:
    \[ V(6) = 36000 \times (0.85)^6 = 36000 \times 0.3768890578125 = 13587.01 \]

  8. Year 7:
    \[ V(7) = 36000 \times (0.85)^7 = 36000 \times 0.320507703125 = 11579.78 \]

  9. Year 8:
    \[ V(8) = 36000 \times (0.85)^8 = 36000 \times 0.2724907995625 = 9809.87 \]

Summary of the Sequence

  • Year 0: $36,000.00
  • Year 1: $30,600.00
  • Year 2: $26,010.00
  • Year 3: $22,093.50
  • Year 4: $18,872.23
  • Year 5: $15,973.40
  • Year 6: $13,587.01
  • Year 7: $11,579.78
  • Year 8: $9,809.87

Formula for the Worth of Aria's Car

The formula we've created is: \[ V(n) = 36000 \times (0.85)^n \]

Value of Aria's Car in 20 Years

To find the worth of the car in 20 years, we substitute \( n = 20 \) into the formula:

\[ V(20) = 36000 \times (0.85)^{20} \]

Calculating \( (0.85)^{20} \):

\[ (0.85)^{20} \approx 0.038759 \quad (\text{using a calculator}) \]

Then:

\[ V(20) \approx 36000 \times 0.038759 \approx 1395.32 \]

Final Result

Thus, the worth of Aria's car in 20 years will be approximately $1,395.32.