Question

Don found termites in his porch. The exterminator estimated there were 800,000 termites before they began treatment. He promised that the treatment would kill 40% of the remaining termites each day.How many termites would be alive after 3 days?

Answer 1

To find the number of termites alive after 3 days, we use the formula for exponential decay. Plugging in the values, we get approximately 172,800 termites.

Step-by-step explanation:

To find how many termites would be alive after 3 days, we need to use the concept of exponential decay. The formula for exponential decay is: A = A0 * (1 - r)^n, where A is the final amount, A0 is the initial amount, r is the rate of decay per time period, and n is the number of time periods. In this case, A0 is 800,000 termites, r is 0.4 (since 40% of termites are killed each day), and n is 3 (since we want to find the number of termites after 3 days). Plugging in the values, we get: A = 800,000 * (1 - 0.4)^3 = 800,000 * 0.6^3 = 800,000 * 0.216 = 172,800 termites. Therefore, approximately 172,800 termites would be alive after 3 days.