A town has a population of 14000 and grows at 3.5% every year. What will be the population after 14 years, to the nearest whole number? Use the formula throughout your equation to solve.
The formula to calculate the population after a certain number of years is:
population_after_n_years = population_before * (1 + growth_rate)^n
In this case, the population_before is 14000, the growth_rate is 3.5% (or 0.035 as a decimal), and n is 14.
Substituting these values into the formula, we get:
population_after_14_years = 14000 * (1 + 0.035)^14
Calculating the expression inside the parentheses first:
(1 + 0.035) ≈ 1.035
population_after_14_years = 14000 * (1.035)^14
Now, let's calculate (1.035)^14:
(1.035)^14 ≈ 1.552641
Finally, multiply this value by the initial population to find the population after 14 years:
population_after_14_years ≈ 14000 * 1.552641
population_after_14_years ≈ 21736.97
Rounded to the nearest whole number, the population after 14 years will be 21737.