Question

A biologist is studying the exponential growth of a colony of bacterial cells. The table gives the number of cells, y, in the colony over time, x, in hours. Replace the values of A, b, x, and y to write an exponential equation that represents the number of cells present at h hours.

Answer 1

The biologist can use the exponential equation
`y = A * b^h` to represent the number of cells present at 'h' hours.

Step-by-step explanation:

The number of bacteria in a colony can be described using an exponential equation. Let's assume the equation is of the form
`y = A * b^x`, where y represents the number of cells, x represents the time in hours, A represents the initial number of cells, and b represents the growth rate. In this case, the biologist wants to determine the number of cells present at 'h' hours. So, the equation becomes
`y = A * b^h`.

Using the given information, 'A' represents the initial number of cells in the colony, 'b' represents the factor by which the number of cells increases in each hour, 'h' represents the number of hours, and 'y' represents the number of cells at 'h' hours.

Therefore, the exponential equation that represents the number of cells present at 'h' hours is
`y = A * b^h.`