Zeus industries bought a computer for $2857. it is expected to depreciate at a rate of 24% per year. what will the value of the computer be in 3 years?
round to the nearest penny. do not type the "$" sign in your answer

This is an exponential growth/decay problem, and it doesn't really matter which when it comes to the equation because they are both pretty much the same. The formula is A = Pe^(rt), where A is what you end up with, P is the principle value of the object, e is euler's number, r is the rate of decay or growth, and t is the time in years. Since we are looking at depreciation or decay, our r value will be negative. A is what we are solving for (the ending value), P is 2857, r is -.24 and t is 3. So our formula, set up properly, looks like this: A = 2857e^(-.24*3). The first thing to do is to simplify the exponents by multiplying them: A = 2857e^(-.72). Now we're ready to solve! On your calculator, you have a 2nd button and a LN button, when you hit 2nd-->LN you'll get e^(  .  Enter in the -.72 and then hit enter.  You should get .4867522. Now multiply that by 2857 and you'll get 1390.65.  That's what the computer will be worth in 3 years if it depreciates at that rate.

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