Anew museum had 7500 visitors this year. the museum curators expect the number of visitors to grow by 5% each year. the function y=7500(1.05)x models the predicted number of visitors each year after x years. how many visitors will there be in the third year?

The equation shown above for the prediction of the number of visitors in each year is absolutely right. However, it can be written as,
                      y = 7500(1.05)^x 
to be able to avoid confusions. 
Substituting 3 to the x in the equation will give us,
                      y = 7500(1.05)^3
                        = 8682.188
                        ≈8682
Therefore, there will be approximately 8682 visitors in the third year. 

21/2 or 5/2