Math IB Portfolio

SL Type 2

Edwin Alonso Calculus Period 4 Mr. Udupa

Population Trends in China

Introduction
This task will investigate the trend and different functions that best model the population of China from 1950 to 1995. The two variables investigated in this task are population in millions and time in years. The parameters of the given data range from 1950 to 1995. We can plot a graph of year vs. population by having the x-axis be defined by the year and the y-axis defined as the population in millions.

Investigation
Year Population(millio ns) 198 3 554. 8 195 5 609. 0 196 0 657. 5 196 5 729. 2 197 0 830. 7 197 5 927. 8 198 0 998. 9 1985 1070. 0 1990 1155. 3 1995 1220.. 5

1,500

1,220.5 1,155.3 1,070 1,000 830.7 729.2 609 554.8 500 657.5 998.9 927.8

There is an increase in population as time progresses. This positive correlation signifies population growth over the years. Shown by the data points, the growth is occurring at almost a constant rate. 0 Between the years, 1950 1965 1970, the population appears to be and 1970 1950 1955 1960 increasing exponentially. However, from years 1970 to 1995, there is a

slight decrease in rate of growth as the slope starts to level off. It can be concluded that both linear and exponential functions could model the behavior of the graph. However, from previous knowledge, I know that populations growth most often occur exponentially rather than linearly.