We are given a table that shows the number of zombies over a 4 day period.
a) What is the initial value?
The initial value means an initial population that is the number of zombies at day 0
From the table, we see that the initial population is 2
Initial value = 2
b) What is the growth/decay factor?
The growth/decay factor can be found by finding the ratio of the consecutive terms
r = 512/128 = 4
r = 128/32 = 4
r = 32/8 = 4
r = 8/2 = 4
As you can see, we have got the same ratio.
Since the ratio is greater than 1 then it is a growth factor.
If it was less than 1 then it would have been a decay factor.
Therefore, the growth factor is 4
Initial value = 2
Growth factor = 4