A strain of the cold virus is detected that spreads on average to 3 people for each person who is infected. Assuming no measures are taken to reduce the spread, which type of function would best model the number of people who have been infected with this cold over time?(1 point)

Question

Responses

a linear function
a linear function

a periodic function
a periodic function

a quadratic function
a quadratic function

an exponential function

Answer 1

The best type of function to model the number of people who have been infected with the cold over time, given that each infected person spreads the virus to an average of 3 other people, is an exponential function.

In such scenarios, the number of infections grows rapidly as each infected individual passes the virus to multiple others, which leads to exponential growth in the number of infected people. Thus, the correct answer is:

an exponential function.