The idea of a large, stable middle class (defined as those with annual household incomes in 2010 between $39, 000 and $118, 000 for a family of three) is central to America’s sense of itself. The following table gives the percentage of middle-income adults in the United States from 1971 through 2011: Year 1971 1981 1991 2001 2011 Percent 61 59 56 54 51 A mathematical model giving the percentage of middle-class adults in the United States for the period under consideration is given by f(t) = −2.5t = 61.2 (0 ≤ t ≤ 4) where t is measured in decades, with t = 0 corresponding to 1971. (a) Plot the data points, and sketch the graph of f the function on the same set of axes.(b) What is the rate of change of the percentage of middle-income adults in the United States over the period from 1971 to 2011? (c) Assuming that the trend continues, what will the percentage of middle-income adults in the United States be in 2021?

Functions and Change: A Modeling Approach to College Algebra (MindTap Course List)
6th Edition
ISBN:9781337111348
Author:Bruce Crauder, Benny Evans, Alan Noell
Publisher:Bruce Crauder, Benny Evans, Alan Noell
Chapter5: A Survey Of Other Common Functions
Section5.3: Modeling Data With Power Functions
Problem 6E: Urban Travel Times Population of cities and driving times are related, as shown in the accompanying...
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The idea of a large, stable middle class (defined as those with annual household incomes in 2010 between $39, 000 and $118, 000 for a family of three) is central to America’s sense of itself. The following table gives the percentage of middle-income adults in the United States from 1971 through 2011: Year 1971 1981 1991 2001 2011 Percent 61 59 56 54 51 A mathematical model giving the percentage of middle-class adults in the United States for the period under consideration is given by f(t) = −2.5t = 61.2 (0 ≤ t ≤ 4) where t is measured in decades, with t = 0 corresponding to 1971. (a) Plot the data points, and sketch the graph of f the function on the same set of axes.(b) What is the rate of change of the percentage of middle-income adults in the United States over the period from 1971 to 2011? (c) Assuming that the trend continues, what will the percentage of middle-income adults in the United States be in 2021?

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