A population of bacteria is observed to grow exponentially in a petri dish over several hours. The graph below shows the bacterial population count (in thousands) over 6 hours.
[Imagine a line graph here: x-axis: Time (hours) from 0 to 6. y-axis: Population (thousands) from 0 to 100. Data points approximately: (0, 5), (1, 10), (2, 20), (3, 40), (4, 80)]
Based on the observed trend, what would be the approximate bacterial population at 5 hours?
Correct: C
The graph shows exponential growth. We can observe the pattern:
- At 0 hours: 5 thousand
- At 1 hour: 10 thousand (doubled)
- At 2 hours: 20 thousand (doubled)
- At 3 hours: 40 thousand (doubled)
- At 4 hours: 80 thousand (doubled)
Following this pattern, at 5 hours, the population would double again from 4 hours:
- At 5 hours: 80 thousand * 2 = 160 thousand.
This is an extrapolation based on the clear exponential doubling trend.