Bacteria X has a growth rate of 180 per hour Some amount of

Bacteria X has a growth rate of 180 % per hour. Some amount of bacteria X are accidentally introduced into some egg salad. Three hours after contamination, there were 35,000 bacteria X in the egg salad.

Find the initial number of bacteria X introduced into the egg salad:

Solution

let Ao = initial amt of bacteria
t = 3 hrs
1.8 = the decimal form of 180% increase
Ao*1.8^3 = 35000

using the calc

Ao*5.832 = 35000
Ao = 35000/5.832
Ao = 6001.4 amt of bacteria initially