Answer:
151,031
Step-by-step explanation:
If the population of a town is decreasing at 0.8% each year, the new population of the town will be [tex]100\%-0.8\%=99.2\%[/tex] of what it was last year. To find 99.2% of something, multiply it by 0.992. Therefore, we can write the following equation:
[tex]f(x)=157,220\cdot 0.992^x[/tex], where [tex]f(x)[/tex] is the population of the town [tex]x[/tex] years after the town had a population of 157,220.
Substitute [tex]x=5[/tex] into this equation to get the projected population after 5 years:
[tex]f(5)=157,220\cdot 0.992^5, \\f(5)=151031.019048,\\f(5)\approx \boxed{151,031}[/tex]
Therefore, in 5 years, the population should be 151,031.
