Answer to question

Question

A town's population has been growing linearly. In 2003, the population was 54000, and the population has been growing by 1700 people each year.

Write an equation for the population � years after 2003.

p(x)=

Answer 1

You can visualize this problem on a graph, where the x-axis reflects time and the y-axis reflects the population. Since the equation is meant to start in the year 2003, the population at time = 0 is 54,000. This is the y-intercept. The growth rate is said to be linearly growing at rate of 1,700 people each year. This is the slope.

Now you can use the slope-intercept form (y = mx + b, where m is your slope and b is your y-intercept) to write your equation

y = 1700x + 54000 or in this case, p(x) = 1700x + 54000.