Question

Maria, a biologist, is observing the growth pattern of a virus. She starts with 100 viruses that grow at a rate of 17% per hour. She will check on the viruses in 15 hours. How many viruses will she find? Round your answer to the nearest whole number.

Answer 1

Answer:

She will find 1054 viruses.

Step-by-step explanation:

The number of viruses after t hours is given by the following equation:

$N(t) = N(0)(1+r)^{t}$

In which N(0) is the initial number of viruses and r is the growth rate, as a decimal.

100 viruses that grow at a rate of 17% per hour.

This means that $N(0) = 100, r = 0.17$

So

$N(t) = N(0)(1+r)^{t}$

$N(t) = 100(1+0.17)^{t}$

$N(t) = 100(1.17)^{t}$

She will check on the viruses in 15 hours. How many viruses will she find?

This is N(15).

$N(15) = 100(1.17)^{15} = 1053.87$

Rounding to the nearest whole number:

She will find 1054 viruses.