If the population of a town was 240,000 in January 1998 and it increased by 2% each year, what would be the population of the town in January, 2000?
Answer Details
To solve this problem, we can use the formula for exponential growth, which is: A = P(1 + r)^t where A is the final amount, P is the initial amount, r is the annual growth rate as a decimal, and t is the time in years. In this problem, we are given P = 240,000, r = 0.02, and t = 2 (since we want to find the population after two years). We can plug these values into the formula and simplify: A = 240,000(1 + 0.02)^2 A = 240,000(1.02)^2 A = 240,000(1.0404) A = 249,696 Therefore, the population of the town in January 2000 would be 249,696. So the answer is 249,696.