Answer:
No, it's not an exponential increase.
Step-by-step explanation:
Given the following data;
Monday = 8 flu cases.
Tuesday = 12 flu cases.
Wednesday = 24 flu cases.
Thursday = 30 flu cases.
An exponential increase has a constant ratio of proportion such as 2, 4, 16, 256, etc.
To determine if the increase is exponential, we would find the ratio of each successive reports
Tuesday : Monday = 12/8 = 1.5
Wednesday : Tuesday = 24/12 = 2
Thursday : Wednesday = 30/24 = 1.25
From the above calculations, we can deduce that the ratio of increase isn't constant. Therefore, the newspaper's claim of an exponential increase is incorrect and not accurate.