1. **Problem statement:** The population of Town X is currently 56,000 and is expected to increase by 5% per annum with simple interest. We need to find the population after 3 years. 2. **Formula for simple interest growth:** $$ P = P_0 (1 + rt) $$ where: - $P$ is the population after time $t$ years, - $P_0$ is the initial population, - $r$ is the rate of increase per year (as a decimal), - $t$ is the time in years. 3. **Given values:** - $P_0 = 56000$ - $r = 5\% = 0.05$ - $t = 3$ 4. **Calculate the population after 3 years:** $$ P = 56000 (1 + 0.05 \times 3) $$ $$ P = 56000 (1 + 0.15) $$ $$ P = 56000 \times 1.15 $$ $$ P = 64400 $$ 5. **Interpretation:** After 3 years, the population of Town X is expected to be 64,400.