Question

al Growth Bacteria colonies can triple in size every 4 days. If you start with 40 bacteria microorganisms, how large would the colony be after 20 days? First, complete the equation: Future Amount = [?](1+ []).

Answer 1

Let:

• t, be the time that the colony has spent growing (in days)

,

• f(t) ,the number of bacteria after ,t, days

The function that describes the situation is:

$f(t)=40\cdot3^{\frac{t}{4}}$

For t = 20,

$\begin{gathered} f(20)=40\cdot3^{\frac{20}{4}} \\ \Rightarrow f(20)=40\cdot3^5 \\ \Rightarrow f(20)=9720 \end{gathered}$

You would have 9720 bacteria.