The number of students at a local university increased from 2,500 students 5000 students in 10 years. Based on a geometric mean, the university grew at an average percentage rate of
A) 2,500 students per year
B) 1.071 students per year
C) 7.1 percent per year
D) 250 students per year
E) Cannot be determined

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The geometric mean formula for finding the average percentage growth rate is:
[(final value/initial value)^(1/number of years)] - 1
Plugging in the given values, we get:
[(5000/2500)^(1/10)] - 1 = 0.071 or 7.1%
Therefore, the average percentage growth rate is 7.1% per year, which is option C.

The Number of Students at a Local University Increased from 2,500