The population of bacteria in a petri dish grows by 20% each day

MATHEMATICS · Multi-part · AP · AP Precalculus · Exponential and Logarithmic Functions · Exponential and Logarithmic Functions

Problem

The population of bacteria in a petri dish grows by 20% each day. There are initially 50 000 bacteria in the dish. (a) Find the number of bacteria in the dish after 12 days. (b) Explain why this model cannot continue indefinitely.

Related theory

Growth Models
Exponential Functions
Functions
Ratio and Proportion
Exponential vs linear growth
Exponential and Logarithmic Functions

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