Question

The current population of a certain bacteria is 5887 organisms. It is believed that bacteria's population is tripling every 12 minutes. Use the secant line to approximate the population of the bacteria 7 minutes from now. organisms (round to nearest whole number)

Answer 1

To approximate the population of the bacteria 7 minutes from now, we can use the secant line. The population triples every 12 minutes, which means it doubles every 4 minutes. Therefore, in 7 minutes, the population will approximately be double of what it is currently.

Step-by-step explanation:

To approximate the population of the bacteria 7 minutes from now, we can use the secant line. The population triples every 12 minutes, which means it doubles every 4 minutes. Therefore, in 7 minutes, the population will approximately be double of what it is currently.

Let's start by finding how many doubling intervals have passed in 7 minutes. We divide 7 by 4 to get 1.75. Since we can't have a fraction of an interval, we round this down to 1. This means that one doubling interval has passed in 7 minutes.

Since we know that the population triples every 12 minutes, and one doubling interval has passed in 7 minutes, the population is approximately 3 times larger than it is currently. So, the estimated population after 7 minutes is approximately 3 times the current population of 5887 organisms, which is 17661 organisms (rounded to the nearest whole number).