The number of bacteria in a certain population increases according to an exponential growth model, with a growth rate of 3.5% per hour.

how many hours does it take for the size of the sample to double?

do not round any intermediate computations, and round your answer to the nearest hundredth.

a) 40 more; b) old factory:   10%, new factory:   16%; c) week 4

explanation:

a) at week 0, we see in the graph that the new factory produces 190 specialty items.  

using the function, substituting 0 in for w,

this is a difference of 230-190 = 40.

b) the function for the old factory is written in the form f(x) = a(1+r)ˣ, where a is the original amount, x is the amount of time and r is the growth rate.   the equation for the old factory is ; 230 is in place of a and is the original amount; w is the amount of time; which means 1+r = 1.1.   this means that r must be 0.1 or 10%.

for the new factory, we find the percent of increase to find the growth rate; the formula for this is

between the first two points, the amount of change is 220-190 = 30; this gives us

30/190 = 0.158 ≈ 0.16 = 16%

c) at week 0, the old factory has 230 while the new factory has 190.

at week 1, the old factory has 230(1.1) = 253 while the new factory has 220.

at week 2, the old factory has 230(1.1²) = 278.3 while the new factory has 252.

at week 3, the old factory has 230(1.1³) = 306.13 while the new factory has 290.

at week 4, the old factory has 230(1.1⁴) = 336.743 while the new factory has 337.   this is the first week that the new factory surpasses the old.