Question

: A colony of bacteria that begins with 2 bacteria quadruples every hour.

Challenge Question: How many bacteria are there is expected to be after 5 hours? Is this growth best described as linear or exponential? Explain your reasoning.

Answer 1

After 5 hours, the colony size is 2048.

The growth is exponential, described by the function given below;

There is a common ratio of 4, i.e. the colony size multiplies by 4 every hour.

Explanation:

C = Size of Colony

t = Number of hours

`C = 2(4)^(t)`

After 5 hours:

`C_(5) = 2(4)^(5)\\C_(5) = 2(1024)\\C_(5) = 2048`