you ask 120 randomly chosen people at a stadium to name their favorite food. There are 150,000 people in the stadium. Predict the number of people in the stadium whose favorite stadium food is nachos.

a. 16; b. aₙ = 4ⁿ⁻¹; c. predation and carrying capacity will limit the population

Step-by-step explanation:

a. The first female had 4 pups.

If each of them had 4 pups, there would be 4 × 4 = 4² = 16 pups.

b. 1st generation                        =     1 pup

2nd generation = 4 ×  1 pup      =    4 pups

3rd generation  = 4 ×  4 pups    =  16 pups

4th generation  = 4 × 16 pups    = 64 pups

5th generation  = 4 × 64 pups = 256 pups

The sequence is           1,   4, 16, 64, 256, …

We can also write it as 4⁰, 4¹, 4²,  4³,   4⁴, …

Note that the exponent is one less than the number of the generation.

Thus, the general formula for the nth term, aₙ, is

aₙ = 4ⁿ⁻¹, where

n = the number of the generation

a = the number of pups in that generation.

c. a₂₅ = 4²⁵⁻¹ = 4²⁴ ≈ 281 000 000 000 000 or 281 trillion

The population would not reach that number because there would not be enough food for all those pups. Pups would die of starvation until their numbers equalled the carrying capacity of the ecosystem and would level off at that point.

There would also be increased predation by coyotes, bobcats, etc. This would also keep the population growth in check,