High School

Given the exponential function [tex]y = 3700(0.97)^x[/tex], determine whether the change represents growth or decay, and calculate the percentage rate of increase or decrease.

Answer :

The exponential function y = 3700(0.97)^x represents exponential decay, and it decreases by a rate of 3% for each increase in x.

To determine whether the exponential function y = 3700(0.97)^x represents growth or decay, we look at the base of the exponent, which is 0.97 in this case.

Since 0.97 is less than 1, this indicates that the function represents exponential decay.

To find the percentage rate of decrease, we subtract the base from 1 and then multiply by 100.

Therefore, the percentage decrease is (1 - 0.97) x 100%, which equals 3%.

This means that the amount represented by the function decreases by 3% for each unit increase in x.

This is analogous to a situation where a country's GDP decreases by a certain percentage each year, which demonstrates an exponential decline in economic output over time.