Q:

A city's population is represented by the function P=25,000 (1.0095) t , where t is time in years. How could the function be rewritten to identify the daily growth rate of the population? What is the approximate daily growth rate?

Accepted Solution

A:
We are given the following function: P = 25,000 (1.0095)^t   However the given function is in the basis of 1 year. We know that in 1 year there are 365 days, therefore we must place a (1/365) exponent to the overall rate (1.0095) and divide the time (t) by 365 to get a function on the basis of per day. Hence: P = 25,000 [1.0095^(1/365)]^(t / 365)   The rate is equal to the term:  rate = 1.0095^(1/365) – 1 Calculating for the rate: rate = 1.000025905 – 1 rate = 0.000025905 or 0.003%   Summary of answers: >P = 25,000 [1.0095^(1/365)]^(t / 365) >0.003%