Question

help!
i need to write an example of a real life situation where i could use the equation, y=3^t

Answer 1

Well, think about what 3^t means. it means 3*3*3*....*3 t times. So you think about something tripling, and then tripling again, and then tripling again, etc, t times.

Answer 2

I should say, you START with 3, and then triple it, then triple it, etc.

Answer 3

can you give me a real life example though please?

Answer 4

There are lots of examples. I think you're supposed to come up with the example, though. :)

Let me try to give you a hint.... here is one that isn't actually "tripling" but is combinatorics (which is fun just to say!).

Joe is going to paint a fence that has t wooden posts. Because Joe is very artistic, he wants to vary the colors of the fence posts and will use either red, yellow or blue, on each post. How many different color-combination ways are there for Joe to paint the fence?

So he paints the first paints one of the 3 colors, so there are 3 ways to paint post 1.
For each of those 3 ways, there are 3 ways to paint the 2nd post, so there are 3x3 combinations of colors for the first 2 posts.
Now there are 3 ways to paint the 3rd post, for each of the 9 ways to paint the first 2. So there 3x3x3=27 ways to paint the first 3 posts.

and so on, to the last post which is t. That gives 3^t possible color patterns for the fence.

Answer 5

ok that was more than a hint. can you come up with your own? How about 3 cats, each has 3 kittens and each kitten has 3 kittens etc.... how many total cats are there after t generations?

Answer 6

thanks so much, I think i can make an example with the cats or with some other example.