In 2007 the population of the town of cartersville was 24,455. the population growth can be represented by the formula p = 24,455(1.03)x, where x represents the number of years after 2007. when will the population of the town first exceed 30,000?

To find the population you should set up an equation, so if P is the population then substitute p with the population (30,000).
So the equation would be 30,000=24,455(1.03)x.
From there you should multiply 24,455 by 1.03 giving you 25,188.65 which means 30,000=25,188.65x. Therefore to find the value of x you must divide by 25,188.65
giving you approximately 1.19 years- I believe this is right though I could be wrong