very increase of one on the Richter scale, an earthquake is ten times more powerful. Which of the following models this situation?
linear function with a negative rat of change
linear function with a positive rate of change
exponential decay function
exponential growth function
3 answers
exponential growth function
explain
An exponential growth function is appropriate for modeling this situation because the increase in power of the earthquake is not constant (e.g., +1 on the Richter scale does not always result in the same increase in power). Instead, each increase of one on the Richter scale results in a tenfold increase in power, which is characteristic of exponential growth. Therefore, an exponential growth function would accurately represent how the power of an earthquake increases as the Richter scale value increases.