An asset is worth $2 000 today and grows by 5% each year. Which expression gives its value after n years?
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Practise IGCSE 0580 questions in the style of recent Extended past papers, organised by syllabus subtopic. Each set comes with an examiner-style mark scheme and a downloadable worksheet.
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These Exponential growth and decay Topical Past Paper Questions are written in the style of recent Cambridge IGCSE Mathematics 0580 Extended papers and grouped by the Number (E1.17) section of the 2025–2027 syllabus. Use them to revise the exact skills examiners test in this part of the course.
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Use exponential growth and decay in contexts such as depreciation and population change. Knowledge of e is not required.
An asset is worth $2 000 today and grows by 5% each year. Which expression gives its value after n years?
A bacteria population doubles every hour. Starting with 100 bacteria, find the number of bacteria after 3 hours.
[1 mark]$5 000 is invested at 6% per year compound interest. Find the value of the investment after 4 years. Give your answer correct to 2 decimal places.
[2 marks]A car worth $24 000 depreciates in value by 15% each year. Find its value after 3 years. Give your answer correct to the nearest dollar.
[2 marks]Which of the following formulas represents exponential decay?
A small town has a current population of 8 000 people. The population is growing at 3% per year.
Find the population after 5 years. Give your answer correct to the nearest whole number.
[2 marks]Find the smallest whole number of years it takes for the population to first exceed 10 000.
[1 mark]An investment grows at 4% per year compound interest. After 5 years it is worth $7 300. Find the original amount invested, correct to the nearest dollar.
[2 marks]A radioactive sample has a half-life of 12 years (its mass halves every 12 years). The initial mass is 80 g. Find the mass remaining after 36 years.
[2 marks]