Question

19. Suppose the function ƒ(t) = et describes the growth of a colony of bacteria, where t is hours. Find the number of bacteria present at 5 hours.

Answer 1

To get the population of the bacteria at a time t, we just plug in the given value of t

so in this case, we will put 5 in the place of t

f(t) =
`e^(t)`

f(5) =
`e^(5)`

we know that the value of e is about 2.7. So the population of the bacteria after 5 hours will be 2.7 to the power 5

which will be equal to:

b) 148.413

note: using 2.7 in the calculation will give slightly different answer since it is an estimated value, i suggest using 'e' in the actual calculation