The population in the town of Huntersville is presently 38,300. The town grows at an annual rate of 1.2%. Find the population of Huntersville after 4 years.

Hi there! So the situation that we are talking about for this is compounding, because the population is growing ... The formula for compounding something is P (1 + r) ^t, with P representing the initial amount, r representing the rate, and t representing the time in years. First off, let's add the rate into 1. 1.2% is 0.012 in decimal form. 1 + 0.012 is 1.012. Now, because we are looking for the population after 4 years. We raise 1.012 to the 4th power. 1.012^4 is 1.04887093274. It's a long decimal, but do not delete this number from your calculator. Now, we multiply that number by 38,300 in order to get 40,171.7567238 or 40,172 when rounded to the nearest whole number. There. The population of Huntersville will be 40,172 people in 4 years.