The population of a bacteria colony grows by a consistent percentage each hour and can be modeled by the function y = 500(1.16)t
. What does the value 500 represent in the function? A) The growth factor of bacteria. B) The initial number of bacteria. C) The number of time intervals. D) The number of bacteria after t years.
In the exercise equation, the number 500 represents the slope, and the slope indicates the amount by which the value of the variable is increased or decreased and, when the variable t increases by one unit. In this case, 500 represents the growth factor of bacteria. This increase is presented when the value of the slope is positive and the decrease when the opposite case occurs. If the slope takes the value of zero, the line of the equation is horizontal, therefore, neither increases nor decreases.
