Question

The population of bacteria in a certain culture can be modeled by the function P(t)=10000(1.03)^t. What is the initial population of bacteria in the culture?

Answer 1

Answer: 10000

Explanation:

Here, the function that shows the population of bacteria after t years is,

`f(t) = 10000(1.03)^t`

Initially, time = 0

That is, t = 0 year,

Thus, for 0 year the number of bacteria,

⇒
`f(0) = 10000(1.03)^0 = 10000(1) = 10000`

Hence, the initial population of the bacteria is 10000.

Answer 2

The initial population of bacteria in the culture is 10000

Explanation:

The initial population simply means , the population at t =0. I am assuming t is the time variable. We simply substitute t =0 in the right hand side of the equation to obtain P(0) = 10000