Question

Emma was studying the weights of ground hogs as they grow from babies to adulthood. She began her study when the baby was 5 oz and used the equation w(t) = 5(1.2)^t, where t is a time in months to model this situation. She concluded her study when the ground hog was about 80 oz. What does the 1.2 represent in this problem?

a) 120% growth each month
b) 20% growth each year
c) 120% growth each year
d) 20% growth each month

Answer 1

The value 1.2 in the equation represents a 20% growth rate per month.

Step-by-step explanation:

The equation w(t) = 5(1.2)^t is used to model the weights of groundhogs as they grow from babies to adulthood. In this equation, the value 1.2 represents the growth factor. It indicates how much the weight of the groundhog increases per unit of time.

To determine the growth rate represented by 1.2, we can convert it to a percentage. One way to do this is to subtract 1 from the growth factor and then multiply the result by 100. So, (1.2 - 1) x 100 = 20%. Therefore, the correct answer is d) 20% growth each month.