Question

A population of squirrels is growing in a Louisiana forest with a monthly growth constant of 5 percent. If the initial count is 130squirrels, how many are there in a year? Round any intermediate calculations, if needed, to no less than six decimal places, and round your final answer to the nearest whole number.

Answer 1

Answer:

237 squirrels

Step-by-step explanation:

Given:

Initial population of squirrels (P₀) = 130

Growth rate percent (r) = 5% = 0.05

Time for which population is asked (t) = 1 year = 12 months

The population growth is an exponential growth and is given by the formula:

$P=P_0e^{rt}$

Here, 'P' is the total population after 't' months.

Now, plug in all the given values and solve for 'P'. This gives,

$P=(130)(e^{(0.05\times 12)})\\\\P=130\times e^{0.6}\\\\P=130\times 1.8221188\\\\P=236.88\approx237$

Therefore, the population of the squirrels in a year will be 237 squirrels.