Population growth formula

I think you have the definitions for Po and Px reversed.

The function you gave has two mistakes.

1. Your descriptions for Po and Px are reversed (Po is the initial population and Px is the population after x years).

2. The "x" should be an exponent (usually a superscript)
The function should read - Px = Po(1+y)^x

Now let's look at what this function describes. Let's look at what "y" means.

First if y = 0, then the population won't change. (1 + 0 = 1 and 1^x = 1).

If y = .5, then the population will increase by 50% each year (for example after one year (lets call this P1) P1 = Po*1.5 and after two years P2 = P1 * 1.5 = Po * 1.5 * 1.5.

So this function assumes that the population will grow by the same percentage (that is (100 * y)%) each year.

Of course this assumption is not realistic since there are all kinds of things that effect population growth (disease patterns, resources, level of education, current events, how many people already are around etc. etc. )

This equation is useful for lots of other situations including calculating how much money you earn (or pay) in interest.

You are right I made a mistake. Po is the current population and PX the population after x years (damn hurry )

Thanks for your replies.

The equation for any cumulative increase even like in your bank account yearly interst is:
X2=X1((1+i)^n)
X2= The Future Value
X1= The Current Value
i= the yearly flat increase
n=No. Of Years
Example:
if you put 1000$ in a bank account for 20 years on a yearly interst of 10%, the value of the money after 20 years will be=
X2= 1000((1+0.1)^20)= 6727.5