A population of bacteria starts with 1000 cells and triples every hour. How many bacteria will there be after 5 hours?
Answer
243000 cells
How to solve it
1
Start: 1000
2
After 1 hour: 1000 × 3 = 3,000
3
After 2 hours: 3,000 × 3 = 9,000
4
After 3 hours: 9,000 × 3 = 27,000
5
After 4 hours: 27,000 × 3 = 81,000
6
After 5 hours: 81,000 × 3 = 243,000
Hints
Multiply by 3 each hour
Or use 1000 × 3^5