Ginny is studying a population of frogs. She determines that the population is decreasing at an average rate of 3 percent per year. When she began her study, the frog population was estimated at 1 comma 200 Which function represents the frog population after x years?

A 3% decrease each year means the population retains 100% − 3% = 97% of its size each year, or a factor of 0.97. Starting from 1,200 frogs, the population after x years is f(x) = 1,200(0.97)^x. Therefore, choice A is correct; choice D uses a linear expression rather than repeated yearly decay.

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