1995 to 2012 internet usage

Question

In June 2012, about 2.4 billion people used the internet- 100 times more than the number of people who used it in 1995. If the growth in Internet usage is linear (arithmetic), about how many people were added on average each year from 1995 to 2012

Answer 1

Katie, a linear equation means that both the input grows on a constant, and so does the output.

 

For example, if we measure the height of a plant every 2 days and it grows an inch every time, that is linear.  If we skip a day and measure on day 3, it's no longer linear.  If it grows a half inch just once, then it's not linear.

 

In other words, the question is saying that the growth was the same for every year from 1995-2012.

 

Hope this helps.