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Rats have recently become a nuisance in Norwood. Efforts to control the rat problem have led to the rat population declining by 15%15\% every year. If the town currently has 13,00013,000 rats, how many rats will there be in 33 years?\newlineIf necessary, round your answer to the nearest whole number.\newline____ rats\newline

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Q. Rats have recently become a nuisance in Norwood. Efforts to control the rat problem have led to the rat population declining by 15%15\% every year. If the town currently has 13,00013,000 rats, how many rats will there be in 33 years?\newlineIf necessary, round your answer to the nearest whole number.\newline____ rats\newline
  1. Identify Population and Decline Rate: Identify the initial population and the rate of decline.\newlineThe initial population of rats is 13,00013,000, and the population declines by 15%15\% every year.
  2. Determine Decay Factor: Determine the decay factor.\newlineSince the population declines by 15%15\%, the decay factor is 10.15=0.851 - 0.15 = 0.85.
  3. Apply Exponential Decay Formula: Apply the exponential decay formula.\newlineThe formula for exponential decay is P(t)=P0×(decay factor)tP(t) = P_0 \times (\text{decay factor})^{t}, where P(t)P(t) is the population at time tt, P0P_0 is the initial population, and tt is the number of years.
  4. Calculate Population After 33 Years: Calculate the population after 33 years. P(3)=13,000×(0.85)3P(3) = 13,000 \times (0.85)^{3}
  5. Perform Calculation: Perform the calculation.\newlineP(3)=13,000×(0.85)3P(3) = 13,000 \times (0.85)^{3}\newlineP(3)=13,000×0.85×0.85×0.85P(3) = 13,000 \times 0.85 \times 0.85 \times 0.85\newlineP(3)=13,000×0.614125P(3) = 13,000 \times 0.614125\newlineP(3)=7,983.625P(3) = 7,983.625
  6. Round to Nearest Whole Number: Round the answer to the nearest whole number.\newlineThe population of rats after 33 years will be approximately 7,9847,984 rats.

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