A biologist studying a population of alligators in a State Park determines that the population can be modelled by the
formula ff(tt) = 120,000(1.015)tt
, where ff(tt) represents the population after t years. An intern studying with the
biologist makes this claim: “Based on the formula, after 1 year the population will have increased by 1800. Since 1800
divided by 12 is 150, we can used the fact that the population increases by 150 Alligators per month to predict the future
population of alligators in the park.”
Explain why the intern’s claim is not valid.
Modify the initial given formula such that it represents the predicted population after m months, and use the formula to
predict the population after 50 months.
1 answer
growing by 150 per month is a linear function, which this is clearly not, even though you have garbled the math.
1 answer