The population of a town increased from 3950 in 2007 to 5800 in 2009. Find the absolute and relative (percent) increase.

Answer 1

5800 - 3950 = 1850 absolute increase

1850/3950 = 46.84% increase

Answer 2

Hey!

The absolute increase can be thought of in terms of the number of people who moved into the area between 2007 and 2009. Whereas, the relative, or percentage increase, is the number of people who moved into the area during the same time period, compared to the original population in 2007.

Absolute Increase = 5,800 - 3,950 = 1,850 people

Relative increase (%) = (New Population - Old Population) / Old Population

= (5,800 - 3,950) / 3,950

= 1,850 / 3,950 = .468 or 46.8%