The population decays by a factor of (1/2 )^1/4 every hour.
An exponential function is in the form:
y = abˣ
Where a is the initial value of y, b is the multiplier, y and x are variables.
Let y represent the bacteria population after x hours.
A bacteria population decreases by a factor of 1/2 every 4 hours.
[tex]y=\frac{1}{2} ^\frac{x}{4}= \frac{1}{2} ^{(\frac{1}{4})x}[/tex]
The population decays by a factor of (1/2 )^1/4 every hour.
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