[tex]\bf \qquad \textit{Amount for Exponential Growth}\\\\
A=I(1 + r)^t\qquad
\begin{cases}
A=\textit{accumulated amount}\\
I=\textit{initial amount}\\
r=rate\to r\%\to \frac{r}{100}\\
t=\textit{elapsed time}\\
\end{cases}\\\\
-------------------------------\\\\
y=432(1.54)^t\implies \stackrel{A}{y}=\stackrel{I}{432}(1~+~\stackrel{r}{0.54})^t
\\\\\\
r=0.54\implies r\%=0.54\cdot 100\implies r=\stackrel{\%}{54}[/tex]
anyhow, the flag is that 1.54 is "more" than 1, thus is growth.
if it were decay, then the rate gets subtracted, and it be (1 - r), and the flag for a decay is that the value in the parentheses is less than 1, like say 432(0.95)ᵗ, since 0.95 is really just 1 - 0.05, then r = 0.05 or 0.05 * 100 or 5%.
