Answer: Following function gives the number of bacteria in a culture:

(a) The continues rate of growth can be found by taking the first time derivative of the equation (1), which is:

(b) The initial population can be found by plugging t = 0 in equation (1).

THerefore the answer is 9
(c) At t = 5, the number of bacteria in the culture would be:

Or roughly 4437 bacteria.