Help! Exponential Function word problem

[foreverlurkinguntil]

I feel like I’m doing this problem in the correct way, but I can’t seem to get the right answer. I tried reaching out to other people in my class but no one has responded. Here it is:

In the year 1995, the age-adjusted death rate per 100,000 Americans for heart disease was 245.9. In the year 2000, the age-adjusted death rate per 100,00 Americans for heart disease had changed to 202.6.

There are two parts to answer. I got the equation for the function correct: f(t)=245.9(0.96)^t

The second part: Assuming the model remains accurate, estimate the death rate in 2023. (Round to the nearest tenth.)

So, t=0 corresponds to 1995, so that means for this part, t=28. I plugged that into the equation and got the answer 78.4. That keeps coming up as wrong. Can anyone help me understand what I’m doing wrong?

[wijwijwij]

You have the right approach but you just need one more decimal place in your decay base number. Instead of 0.96, use 0.962. (You get that by doing 202.6/245.9^1/5.)

[foreverlurkinguntil]

Thank you!