If the annual decrease in the population of a town is 15% and the present population of the town is 32000, then what will be the population of the town after 3 years?

Options

A. 21454
B. 18042
C. 19652
D. 19008

Answer

To find the population of the town after 3 years given a 15% annual decrease, we can follow these steps:

### Step 1: Understand the decrease
The population decreases by 15% each year. This means that 85% of the population remains each year. We can express this as a decimal:
\[ 1 - 0.15 = 0.85 \]

### Step 2: Calculate the population after 1 year
To find the population after 1 year, we multiply the current population by 0.85:
\[ \text{Population after 1 year} = 32000 \times 0.85 \]
Calculating this gives:
\[ 32000 \times 0.85 = 27200 \]

### Step 3: Calculate the population after 2 years
Now, we repeat the process for the second year:
\[ \text{Population after 2 years} = 27200 \times 0.85 \]
Calculating this gives:
\[ 27200 \times 0.85 = 23120 \]

### Step 4: Calculate the population after 3 years
Finally, we calculate the population after 3 years:
\[ \text{Population after 3 years} = 23120 \times 0.85 \]
Calculating this gives:
\[ 23120 \times 0.85 = 19652 \]

### Conclusion
Thus, the population of the town after 3 years will be approximately **19652**.

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