Problem

A culture containing 21 bacteria doubles every day. Which of the following formulas represents the number of bacteria, $p$, in the culture after $t$ days?
\[
\begin{array}{l}
p=21(2)^{t} \\
p=21(1.2)^{t} \\
p=21+2 t \\
p=42 t \\
p=21^{2 t}
\end{array}
\]

Answer

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Answer

Final Answer: The formula that represents the number of bacteria, \(p\), in the culture after \(t\) days is \(\boxed{p=21(2)^{t}}\).

Steps

Step 1 :The problem states that the bacteria doubles every day. This means that the number of bacteria is multiplied by 2 each day.

Step 2 :Therefore, the formula that represents this situation is \(p=21(2)^{t}\), where \(p\) is the number of bacteria, \(21\) is the initial number of bacteria, \(2\) is the rate of growth, and \(t\) is the number of days.

Step 3 :Final Answer: The formula that represents the number of bacteria, \(p\), in the culture after \(t\) days is \(\boxed{p=21(2)^{t}}\).

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