Suppose the population of a town is 8,200 and is growing 3% each year. Write an equation to model the population growth. Predict the population after 3 years. y = 8,200 ∙ 3x; about 8,960 people y = 3 ∙ 8,200x; about 73,800 people y = 8,200 ∙ 3x; about 221,400 people y = 8,200 ∙ 1.03x; about 8,960 people

To model the population growth of a town which is increasing at a rate of 3% each year, you would use an exponential growth formula. The equation is:

y = P(1 + r)^x

Where: - y is the population after x years, - P is the initial population, - r is the growth rate (expressed as a decimal), - x is the number of years.

In this case, the initial population (P) is 8,200 people, and the growth rate (r) is 3% per year, which is 0.03 as a decimal. Therefore, we can set up the equation as follows:

y = 8,200(1 + 0.03)^x

Simplify the equation:

y = 8,200(1.03)^x

To predict the population after 3 years (x = 3), we substitute x with 3:

y = 8,200(1.03)^3

Now, we calculate this expression:

y = 8,200 * 1.09327 (approximately)

y ≈ 8,964 people

So, the correct equation to model the population growth is y = 8,200 ∙ 1.03^x. The predicted population after 3 years is about 8,964 people. Therefore, the correct choice is:

y = 8,200 ∙ 1.03^x; about 8,960 people