Example 1

A colony of bacteria grows at a rate of every hours. The population of the colony is initially . Find an equation that models the population after hours. What will be the population in hours? Round to the nearest whole number. Why does it make sense to round to the nearest whole number?
1. Pick the model. 2. Find the important quantities. 3. Substitute the known quantities. 4. How many bacteria are there after hours? 5. Why must you round to a whole number? This applet is provided by Walch Education as supplemental material for their mathematics programs. Visit www.walch.com for more information.