The data in the table shows that the percentage of adults in a country who are currently married is declining. Assuming that the percentage of adults who are married will continue to decrease according to the exponential decay model, complete parts a) through c) below:
Year
Percent of Adults Who Are Married
1960 74.7
1980 56
2000 48.6
2010 42.7
2012 40.5
a) Write an exponential function that describes the percent of adults married after time in years, where t is the number of years after 1960.
M(t) = 74.7 * (0.118)^t (Use the answer from the previous step to find this answer)
b) Estimate the percent of adults who are married in 2015 and in 2018.
In 2015, approximately 37.4% of adults will be married. (Simplify your answer. Round to one decimal place as needed)