Eric is culturing bacteria that have a growth rate of 5% per hour. If the current population is 76,683 bacteria, how many bacteria will there be in 12 hours? If necessary, round your answer to the nearest whole number.
In one hour, the number of bacteria will increase by 5% to become 76,683 * 1.05 = <<76683*1.05=80517.15>>80,517.15 bacteria.
In 12 hours, the number of bacteria will increase by that rate 12 times to become 76683 * 1.05^12 = <<76683*1.05^12=172390.20072659145>>172,390.2
Rounding to the nearest whole number gives a final answer of 172,390 bacteria. Answer: \boxed{172390}.