The population of a city increases by 2.6% per year. If this year's population is 329,000, what will next year's population be, to the nearest individual?

Answer 1

To calculate next year's population given a current population of 329,000 and an annual increase of 2.6%, we can use the formula for population increase:

\[ \text{Next Year's Population} = \text{Current Population} \times (1 + \text{Rate of Increase}) \]

In this case, the rate of increase is 2.6%, which we convert to a decimal:

\[ 2.6% = \frac{2.6}{100} = 0.026 \]

Now plug the values into the formula:

\[ \text{Next Year's Population} = 329,000 \times (1 + 0.026) \]

This simplifies to:

\[ \text{Next Year's Population} = 329,000 \times 1.026 \]

Now we calculate that:

\[ \text{Next Year's Population} = 329,000 \times 1.026 \approx 337,574 \]

Rounding to the nearest individual, next year's population will be:

\[ \text{Next Year's Population} \approx 337,574 \]

Therefore, the population next year will be approximately 337,574.