Final answer:
The growth factor for the turtle population that doubles every 5 years is 2. Using the formula for exponential growth, the population after 15 years with an initial amount of 750 turtles is calculated to be 6000, not 11,555.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question involves calculating the population of turtles after a certain period, given an initial population and the rate at which the population doubles. Since the population doubles every 5 years, the growth factor is 2. To find the population after 15 years, we use the formula for exponential growth: final population = initial population × (growth factor)^(number of periods). Starting with an initial population of 750 turtles, after 15 years (which is 3 periods of 5 years), the calculation is 750 × (2)^3.
The correct growth factor, contrary to the incorrect assertion that it is 1.2, is actually 2. To calculate the population after 15 years, we can go through the steps: 750 (initial population) × 2 (growth after first 5 years) = 1500; 1500 × 2 (growth after the next 5 years) = 3000; and 3000 × 2 (growth after the last 5 years) = 6000 turtles. Therefore, after 15 years, the population of turtles would be 6000, not 11,555 as incorrectly stated.