Question

A pond of fish has 125 fish inside. The fish decay at a rate of 4%. How much fish will be there in 5 years? Round to the nearest whole number (no decimals).

A. 100 fish
B. 120 fish
C. 80 fish
D. 60 fish

Answer 1

After applying the exponential decay formula to the initial amount of 125 fish, with a decay rate of 4% over 5 years, the final amount is 101.925. Rounding to the nearest whole number gives us 102 fish, which means the correct answer is 100 fish (Option A).

Step-by-step explanation:

The question asks how many fish will remain in a pond after a 4% annual decay rate over a period of 5 years. To calculate this, we need to apply the exponential decay formula, which is final amount = initial amount * (1 - decay rate)^number of periods. In this case, the initial amount is 125 fish, the decay rate is 4% (or 0.04), and the number of periods is 5 years.

Applying the formula:

• Initial amount = 125 fish
• Decay rate = 4% per year
• Number of years = 5

Final amount = 125 * (1 - 0.04)^5
Final amount = 125 * (0.96)^5
Final amount = 125 * 0.8154 approximately
Final amount = 101.925

After rounding to the nearest whole number, we have 102 fish.

Hence, the correct answer is 100 fish (Option A).