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The number of bacteria in a certain culture triples every hour. If there were 30 bacteria present in the culture originally, what would be the number of bacteria in the fourth hour?

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Final answer:

The number of bacteria, which triples every hour, will reach 2430 after 4 hours, beginning from an initial count of 30 bacteria. This is a demonstration of the mathematical concept of exponential growth.

Step-by-step explanation:

This question pertains to a mathematical concept known as exponential growth, which is often used to describe phenomena where the amount of something increases rapidly over time, such as the number of bacteria in a culture. The bacteria in this problem triples every hour, starting with 30 bacteria.

Here's how you calculate the number of bacteria at the fourth hour:

  1. After the first hour, the number of bacteria is 30 x 3 = 90.
  2. After the second hour, the number of bacteria is 90 x 3 = 270.
  3. After the third hour, the number of bacteria is 270 x 3 = 810.
  4. After the fourth hour, the number of bacteria is 810 x 3 = 2430.

So, there would be 2430 bacteria present in the culture after 4 hours.

Learn more about exponential growth

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