medium · SAT Math

A biology student measures the number of bacteria in a petri dish every 2 hours. Time (x, hours) Bacteria count (y) 0 300 2 600 4 1200 6 2400 The counts could be changing by a constant amount each 2-hour step (linear) or by a constant factor each 2-hour step (exponential). Determine which model fits, then find the common ratio r such that each count equals r times the count from 2 hours before it.

1. 0.5
2. 2
3. 8
4. 300

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