Name________________________________________________Period_______Date________________
APES “Do The Math”— Chapter 6:
Calculating Exponential Growth
SAMPLE PROBLEM— Consider a population of rabbits that has an initial population size of
10 individuals (N0 = 10). Let’s assume that the intrinsic rate of growth for a rabbit is r = 0.5 (or
50 percent), which means that each rabbit produces a net increase of 0.5 rabbits each year. With
this information, we can predict the size of the rabbit population 2 years from now:
Nt = N0ert
Nt = 10 × e0.5×2
Nt = 10 × e1
Nt = 10 × (2.72)1
Nt = 10 × 2.72
