Problem

Question
Suppose a bacterial culture triples in population every 5 hours. If the population is initially 200 ,
(a) quickly determine when the population will reach 5400 .
(b) Find an equation for the population at any time.
(c) Determine when the population will reach 20,000 .

Answer

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Answer

Final Answer: a) 15 hours, b) P(t)=200(1.24573t), c) 20.96 hours

Steps

Step 1 :Use the exponential growth formula: P(t)=P0(rt), where P(t) is the population at time t, P0 is the initial population, r is the growth rate, and t is the time.

Step 2 :Calculate the growth rate: r=3(1/5)=1.24573

Step 3 :a) Find when the population reaches 5400: 5400=200(1.24573t), solving for t, we get t15 hours.

Step 4 :b) The equation for the population at any time is: P(t)=200(1.24573t)

Step 5 :c) Find when the population reaches 20000: 20000=200(1.24573t), solving for t, we get t20.96 hours.

Step 6 :Final Answer: a) 15 hours, b) P(t)=200(1.24573t), c) 20.96 hours

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