sat suite question viewer
For the function , , and for each increase in by , the value of decreases by . What is the value of ?
Explanation
The correct answer is . It’s given that and that for each increase in by , the value of decreases by . Because the output of the function decreases by a constant percentage for each -unit increase in the value of , this relationship can be represented by an exponential function of the form , where represents the initial value of the function and represents the rate of decay,
expressed as a decimal. Because , the value of must be . Because the value of decreases by for each -unit increase in , the value of must be , or . Therefore, the function can be defined by . Substituting for in this function yields , which is equivalent to , or . Either or may be entered as the correct answer.
Alternate approach: It’s given that and that for each increase in by , the value of decreases by . Therefore, when , the value of is , or , of , which can be expressed as . Since , the value of is . Similarly, when , the value of is of , which can be expressed as . Since , the value of is . Either or may be entered as the correct answer.