SOLUTION: Bobby is working in a lab testing bacteria populations. After starting out with a population of 350 bacteria, he observes the change in population and notices that the population

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Question 1150358: Bobby is working in a lab testing bacteria populations. After starting out with a population of 350 bacteria, he observes the change in population and notices that the population triples every 18 minutes.
Find the equation for the population P in terms of time t in minutes. Round values to three decimal places.
Found 2 solutions by ikleyn, MathsterChief :
Answer by ikleyn(52787)   (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!
.

   P = 350*3^(t/18).


This is a "general" formula, in which we CAN NOT round: it is a formula, not a value (!)


Answer by MathsterChief (3)   (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!
This is an example of exponential population growth. We can use the population growth equation which is in the form where is an the population of bacteria after t minutes is the initial populaion R is the rate of growth or decay, t is time in minutes and T is the time constant or time which it takes to reach one full growth or decay. Plugging in our given values we get the equation for bacteria as
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