In 2012 about 2.4 billion people used Internet-100 times more than in 1995. If growth is linear, how many people were added on average each year from 1995-2012

Question

What would the formula be?

Answer 1

let x = 0 (year 1995) and x = 17 (year 2012)

let y = number of people using internet

y = 2.4 at x = 17

y = 2.4/100 at x = 0 (as at x = 0 (year 1995), people using internet were 100 times less than 2012)

 

y = mx +c    linear equation where m = slope and c  = y intercept

2.4 = m(17)+c  ---- (i)

2.4/100 =m(0)+c   hence c = 2.4/100

 

put value of c in (i)

 

2.4 = 17*m+(2.4/100)

solving for m (average growth increase/slope) gives 0.1398 (rounded off) billion 

 

 

Another Check :

 

if in 1995, the population using internet were 2.4 billion /100 and assuming average linear growth is 0.1398 billion per year then after 17 years the growth will be 

 

2.4/100 + 17*0.1398 = 2.4