World Population Growth: When Will 11 Billion Be Reached?

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Homework Help Overview

The problem involves estimating when the world population will reach 11 billion, given its population figures of 5.7 billion in 1995 and 6.2 billion in 2008, under the assumption of exponential growth.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Conceptual clarification, Mathematical reasoning, Assumption checking

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • Participants discuss the calculation of the growth rate and the appropriate model for exponential growth. There are questions about the representation of the growth constant and the formula needed for exponential growth. Some participants express confusion about the steps taken and the assumptions made regarding linear versus exponential growth.

Discussion Status

The discussion is ongoing, with various participants attempting to clarify the exponential growth model and its application to the problem. Some have provided formulas and calculations, while others are questioning the accuracy and assumptions of those calculations. There is no explicit consensus on the final answer, but several productive lines of reasoning have been explored.

Contextual Notes

Participants mention constraints related to homework guidelines and the need to derive answers independently, which may affect the depth of the discussion. There is also a reference to the challenge of using information from different courses, adding complexity to the problem-solving process.

MrNeWBiE
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Homework Statement



The population of the world was 5.7 billion people in 1995 and 6.2 billion in 2008. Assuming exponential growth by what year will the population reach 11 billion?




The Attempt at a Solution



i started by trying to find R

but am not sure the my way is right ,,, i started by 6.2/57 = 62/57

then i divided it by 13 ,, it's the difference between 2008 and 1995
,,, so (62/57)/13 = 62/741 ,,,, then i multiply it by 100 to get the percentage = 8.367

are my steps right until now ?
 
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MrNeWBiE said:

Homework Statement



The population of the world was 5.7 billion people in 1995 and 6.2 billion in 2008. Assuming exponential growth by what year will the population reach 11 billion?
Where's the section for relevant equations? Since the assumption is that population growth is exponential, a very relevant equation would be the one that describes exponential growth.
MrNeWBiE said:

The Attempt at a Solution



i started by trying to find R
What does R represent? You haven't shown the model you are using, so we have no idea what R is supposed to be.
MrNeWBiE said:
but am not sure the my way is right ,,, i started by 6.2/57 = 62/57
You mean 6.2/5.7, which is equal to 62/57.
MrNeWBiE said:
then i divided it by 13 ,, it's the difference between 2008 and 1995
,,, so (62/57)/13 = 62/741 ,,,, then i multiply it by 100 to get the percentage = 8.367

are my steps right until now ?
Not at all. Your work assumes that population growth will be linear, which is not the assumption in this problem. The ratio 62/57 is about 1.088, which says that the population increased by about 8.8%. If you divide by 13, the annual growth rate would be 8.8/13 or about 0.7%.

What's the equation you need to use for exponential growth (not linear growth)?
 
and what is exponential growth ??

i know to answer only when i have % of the growth ,,, =.=
 
and what is exponential growth ??

i know to answer only when i have % of the growth ,,, =.=
 
Your textbook should have the general formula for exponential growth. Why don't you see if you can find it?
 
if it's my textbook why i would ask you what is exponential growth ,,?

our beloved dc. give us question from other course ,,,, and we must solve it for the Assignment >.<!
 
By the year 2120.
 
yo ,,, this forum for learning not for giving the answer ,,,,


if it is about the answer mark was going to answer ,,,

i want to learn here not to have answers only ,,,

at least show the steps =p
 
MrNeWBiE said:
yo ,,, this forum for learning not for giving the answer ,,,,


if it is about the answer mark was going to answer ,,,

i want to learn here not to have answers only ,,,

at least show the steps =p

This forum is not about providing detailed solutions to your problems.
 
  • #10
MrNeWBiE said:
if it's my textbook why i would ask you what is exponential growth ,,?
Are you saying that it's not in your textbook?
MrNeWBiE said:
our beloved dc. give us question from other course ,,,, and we must solve it for the Assignment >.<!
dc? What's that?

Exponential growth: P(t) = P0ekt

Where P(t) means the population at a time t
P(0) - the population at some starting point
k - a constant that describes how quickly or slowly the population grows

In your problem - The population of the world was 5.7 billion people in 1995 and 6.2 billion in 2008. Assuming exponential growth by what year will the population reach 11 billion? - you can take 1995 to be year 0, so P(0) = 5.7 billion, and P(13) = 6.2 billion. These two values can be used to find the growth constant k. When you have that you can solve for t in the equation P(t) = 11 billion.
 
  • #11
Maybe you have seen it under the name 'geometric sequence'.
 
  • #12
MrNeWBiE said:

Homework Statement



The population of the world was 5.7 billion people in 1995 and 6.2 billion in 2008. Assuming exponential growth by what year will the population reach 11 billion?




The Attempt at a Solution



i started by trying to find R

but am not sure the my way is right ,,, i started by 6.2/57 = 62/57

then i divided it by 13 ,, it's the difference between 2008 and 1995
,,, so (62/57)/13 = 62/741 ,,,, then i multiply it by 100 to get the percentage = 8.367

are my steps right until now ?

As mentioned use the very simple formula

y = b \cdot a^x

Where you find a by

a = (\frac{y_2}{y_1})^{\frac{1}{x_2-x_1}}

where (x_1,y_1) and where (x_2,y_2) are your points...
 
  • #13
so to find " k " ,,,,

6.2 = 5.7 e^k13

Ln6.2 / 5.7 = 13k lne

13k= 0.084 ... k = 0.65/100

then to find " t "

P(t)=5.7 e^0.65/100 t

11=5.7 e^0.65/100 t

Ln 11/5.7 = (0.65/100) t lne

0.6574=( 0.65/100)t

t= 101.133 ...

in 2096 not 2120 as dickfore said

right ?
 
  • #14
You're pretty close, but I got this for k: 0.00646793209311856953400952132232. I stored this value in memory in my calculator for later use.

I then solved 11/5.7 = ekt, or ln(11/5.7) = kt, so t = (1/k)*ln(11/57). From this I got t = 101.64440326411666721034020332917.

The reason our answers are not quite the same is that you rounded off your value for k, and then rounded off your answer for ln(11/5.7).
 
  • #15
long numbers ,,, i only need the first 3 after the " . "

because i can't write a lot of numbers in my homework page ,,,,
 
  • #16
So mine rounded to 3 dec. places was 101.644 years, and yours was 101.133. My point is that if you round off before the end, you lose precision.
 

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