Passage II

Ecologists use computer simulations to model population growth. The symbol N0 indicates a population's initial size and Nt indicates the population's size at time t (t is the number of generations following N0).

Nt is determined by the relationship between the birth rate (b) of the population (the number of individuals born per generation per 1,000 individuals) and the death rate (d) of the population (the number of individuals that die per generation per 1, 000 individuals).

The table below shows the results of 12 computer simulations (S) for population growth.

11. If a simulation were performed using the values N0 = 4, b = 1.0 and d = 0.75, based on the results in the table, N10 would be closest to which of the following values?

Answer and Explanation

Your Answer is

Correct Answer is C

Explanation

Look at stimulation 4, where b and d are the same as in the question stem, the only difference is that N0=8 instead of N0=4. According to the above conditions, it is calculated that the number of N10 in stimulation 4 in the tenth generation should also be twice the number of N10 in the question. So 97/2≈48