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) About Me  (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) About Me  (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 B%5Bt%5D+=+B%5Bo%5D%2A%28R%29%5E%28t%2FT%29 where B%5Bt%5D is an the population of bacteria after t minutes B%5Bo%5D 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 B%5Bt%5D+=+350%2A%283%29%5E%28t%2F18%29