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Exponential growth

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allenwong2288
 Post subject: Exponential growth
 Post Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2011 4:17 pm 
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Students


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I'm currently studying guide 3, the equations inequalities book. On pg 173, #10 the question says

A strain of bacteria multiplies such that the ratio of its population in any two consecutive minutes is constant.

Would someone clarify what this means for me? Does this mean it grows every 2 minutes? What information is it telling you about 2 minutes?

Thanks
Allen
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mahajanakhil1985
 Post subject: Re: Exponential growth
 Post Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2011 11:39 am 
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At the end of 1st minute, suppose population is 3.
End of 2nd minute, it is 6.
End of 3rd minute, it is 12.
End of 4th minute, it is 24.
End of 5th minute, it is 48.

As per statement, 3:6=6:12:12:24=24:48

I think that this is what the question says.
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allenwong2288
 Post subject: Re: Exponential growth
 Post Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2011 5:43 pm 
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I see. Thanks very much.
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abhishek-dutta
 Post subject: Re: Exponential growth
 Post Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2011 1:13 pm 
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allenwong2288 wrote:
I'm currently studying guide 3, the equations inequalities book. On pg 173, #10 the question says

A strain of bacteria multiplies such that the ratio of its population in any two consecutive minutes is constant.

Would someone clarify what this means for me? Does this mean it grows every 2 minutes? What information is it telling you about 2 minutes?

Thanks
Allen


Min 1 - Population is x

Min 3 - Population is ax

Min 5 - Population is a^2x
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tim
 Post subject: Re: Exponential growth
 Post Posted: Wed Nov 23, 2011 1:31 pm 
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ManhattanGMAT Staff


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Location: Southwest Airlines, seat 21C
Thanks Abhishek. The idea is that every minute the population is multiplying bu a constant (although not necessarily doubling). This is code for exponential growth, so you need to solve the problem using the techniques you would from exponential growth..

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Tim Sanders
Manhattan GMAT Instructor
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