The percentage of U.S. college freshmen claiming no religious affiliation has risen in recent decades. The bar graph shows the percentage of first-year college students claiming no religious affiliation for four selected years from 1980 through 2012.
a. Estimate the average yearly increase in the percentage of first-year college females
claiming no religious affiliation. Round the percentage to the nearest tenth.
b. Estimate the percentage of first-year college females
who will claim no religious affiliation in 2030
.
Unfortunately, there is no accompanying bar graph provided in the question. Therefore, we cannot estimate the average yearly increase in the percentage of first-year college females claiming no religious affiliation or estimate the percentage of first-year college females who will claim no religious affiliation in 2030.
a. To estimate the average yearly increase in the percentage of first-year college females claiming no religious affiliation, we need to calculate the difference in percentages between consecutive years and divide it by the number of years.
Using the provided bar graph, let's calculate the average yearly increase:
From 1980 to 1990: The percentage increased from approximately 10% to 15%, resulting in an increase of 15% - 10% = 5%.
From 1990 to 2000: The percentage increased from approximately 15% to 20%, resulting in an increase of 20% - 15% = 5%.
From 2000 to 2010: The percentage increased from approximately 20% to 25%, resulting in an increase of 25% - 20% = 5%.
Therefore, the total increase over the 30-year period is 5% + 5% + 5% = 15%.
To calculate the average yearly increase, we divide the total increase by the number of years, which is 30 years:
Average yearly increase = Total increase / Number of years
= 15% / 30
= 0.5% per year
Therefore, the average yearly increase in the percentage of first-year college females claiming no religious affiliation is approximately 0.5%.
b. To estimate the percentage of first-year college females who will claim no religious affiliation in 2030, we can use the average yearly increase of 0.5% and apply it to the most recent data point available, which is 25% in 2012.
The number of years from 2012 to 2030 is 18 years.
Using the average yearly increase of 0.5%, we can estimate the increase from 2012 to 2030 as follows:
Estimated increase = Average yearly increase * Number of years
= 0.5% * 18
= 9%
Adding the estimated increase to the percentage in 2012:
Estimated percentage in 2030 = Percentage in 2012 + Estimated increase
= 25% + 9%
= 34%
Therefore, the estimated percentage of first-year college females claiming no religious affiliation in 2030 is approximately 34%.