6.2.1

Population Growth

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Growth

Growth can be thought of as when something gets larger over time. This might be the population of a particular species, the amount of money in a bank account or the number of people using Seneca.

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Linear growth

  • Linear growth is when something increases by a steady amount over set time periods.
    • E.g. a cinema gets 100 extra visitors each month.
    • If they have 200 visitors in month 1, they will get 300 visitors in month 2, 400 visitors in month 3, 500 visitors in month 4, etc.
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Exponential growth

  • Exponential growth is when something increases by a multiplier (or percentage) over set time periods.
    • E.g. the number of people playing Fortnite increases by 2× each month.
    • If they have 200 users in month 1, they will get 400 users in month 2, 800 users in month 3, 1,600 users in month 4, etc.
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Exponential growth in bacteria

  • Populations of bacteria can grow exponentially.
  • This means the number of bacteria increases by a set multiplier over a given time period.
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Exponential growth in bacteria 2

  • The population of an example colony of bacteria starts at one.
  • If the population of bacteria doubles every hour you'd get the exponential growth seen above.

Jump to other topics

1Proof

2Algebra & Functions

2.1Powers & Roots

2.2Quadratic Equations

2.3Inequalities

2.4Polynomials

2.5Graphs

2.6Functions

2.7Transformation of Graphs

2.8Partial Fractions (A2 Only)

3Coordinate Geometry

4Sequences & Series

5Trigonometry

6Exponentials & Logarithms

7Differentiation

8Integration

9Numerical Methods

10Vectors

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