The village of Percentville had 25 thousand people in 2010, and the population is growing at a rate of 1.2% per year. Find a natural growth model P(t) that gives the population of Percentville as a function of t, years after 2010. Solution The answer is simply 25000 * (1.02)t Note that P(1)/P(0) = 25000 * (1.02)1 /25000 = 1.02, P(2) = 25000 * (1.02)2 /(25000 * (1.02)1 ) = (1.02)2/(1.02)1 = 1.02, ... Thus, this is a 2% increase per year..