Mo takes potato salad with her when she goes camping but doesn’t pack it in a cooler. When she sits down to eat, it has been at 75 ⁰F for 6 hours. At that warmer temperature the bacteria Salmonella in the potato salad reproduces quickly, with an exponential growth rate of 8.
Make a table of values.
Hours
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
Bacteria Count
1
What is the initial value of the bacteria count?
What is the growth rate?
Write the exponential equation that models this story
Evaluate - what is the Bacterial Count for Mo’s potato salad after 6 hours?
Hours | Bacteria Count
0 | 1
1 | 8
2 | 64
3 | 512
4 | 4096
5 | 32768
6 | 262144
The initial value of the bacteria count is 1.
The growth rate is 8.
The exponential equation that models this story is: Bacteria Count = 1 * (8^hours).
The bacterial count for Mo's potato salad after 6 hours is 262144.