A biologist is comparing the growth of a population of flies per week to the number of flies a lizard will consume per week. She has devised an equation to solve for which day (x) the lizard would be able to eat the entire population. The equation is 3x = 5x - 1. However, she has observed that the lizard cannot eat more than seven flies in one week.

Explain to the biologist how she can solve this on a graph using a system of equations. Identify any possible constraints to the situation.

Question

A biologist is comparing the growth of a population of flies per week to the number of flies a lizard will consume per week. She has devised an equation to solve for which day (x) the lizard would be able to eat the entire population. The equation is 3x = 5x - 1. However, she has observed that the lizard cannot eat more than seven flies in one week.

Explain to the biologist how she can solve this on a graph using a system of equations. Identify any possible constraints to the situation.

anonymous · Answer

@MismycatMIn Could you help me out with this final one?

mismycatmin · Answer

to solve the equation 3x = 5x - 1 graphically, graph
y=3x and y=5x-1 on the same plane and find their intersection.
so far I'm not seeing how the constraint affect the situation, since we don't know what each side of the equation represents

anonymous · Answer

Thanks again!

anonymous · Answer

@MismycatMIn, that "3x" 3^x?