Geo sequence practice

Question

An economist predicts that the cost of food will increase by 4% per year for the next several years.

Part A: Use the economist’s prediction to write an explicit rule for a geometric sequence that gives the cost in dollars of a box of cereal in year n that costs $3.20 in year 1.

Part B: What is the fourth term of the sequence, and what does it represent in this situation?

Answer 1

An = 3.2(1.04)^(n-1)

A4 = 3.2(1.04)^(4-1) = $3.60 rounded off to nearest cent = predicted price of the cereal box 3 years later.

(food prices are already increasing far more than that today. with trillion dollar bills passing, 4% will look like nothing compared to what's likely to come soon)