A new car is purchased for $44,000 and over time its value depreciates by one half every 5.5 years. What is the value of the car 9 years after it was purchased, to the nearest hundred dollars?Answer:
Q. A new car is purchased for $44,000 and over time its value depreciates by one half every 5.5 years. What is the value of the car 9 years after it was purchased, to the nearest hundred dollars?Answer:
Determine initial value and rate: Determine the initial value of the car and the rate of depreciation.The initial value of the car, a, is $44,000. The car depreciates to half its value every 5.5 years, which means the rate of depreciation, b, is 21 or 0.5.
Calculate halving periods: Calculate the number of times the car's value will halve in 9 years.The car's value halves every 5.5 years, so we divide the total time by the halving period to find the number of times the value halves.x=Ttt=9 (total time in years) and T=5.5 (time for one halving)x=Tt=5.59
Evaluate number of periods: Evaluate the number of halving periods. x=5.59=1.63636...Since the value of the car can only halve a whole number of times, we need to round down to the nearest whole number. The car's value will halve 1 time in 9 years.
Apply depreciation formula: Apply the exponential depreciation formula to find the car's value after 9 years.Depreciation formula: V(x)=a(b)(x)V(x)=44000(0.5)(1)
Calculate value after halving: Calculate the car's value after it has halved once.V(x)=44000(0.5)1=44000×0.5=22000The car's value after 9 years is $22,000 before rounding to the nearest hundred dollars.
Round value to nearest hundred: Round the car's value to the nearest hundred dollars. The value of the car is $22,000, which is already rounded to the nearest hundred dollars.
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