A population of bacteria triples every five days. If the initial population is one thousand, then by what factor will the population have increased in the first ten days? At what time t, in days will the population have increased by a factor of 6?

Question

anonymous · Answer

i want to solve this by myself, but i have no idea what formula i need to use

anonymous · Answer

you could use the exponential equation y=ab^x

anonymous · Answer

y in this case would be the total amount of bacteria.  a is the initial amount.  b is rate.  and x is how long

anonymous · Answer

so when it's asking for what factor am i looking for b?

anonymous · Answer

yes.

anonymous · Answer

I'm sorry, no actually, the factor would be the same as "tripled"

anonymous · Answer

so you'll have to find the equation first and plug in 10, and see by how much the population increased

anonymous · Answer

do i still use y=ab^x?

anonymous · Answer

yup

anonymous · Answer

you have everything you need.  Just need to find b