How Do You Calculate Exponential Population Growth?
Exponential growth refers to a growth pattern where the amount of the increase is proportional to the current size of the population, such as a growth rate of 4 percent rather than linear growth where the growth is unrelated to the current size of the population, such as a growth rate of 100 people per year. Exponential growth can be used to predict future populations of bacteria cultures, wildlife populations or even the number of humans in the world. To calculate exponential population growth, you need to know the periodic rate, how many periods are being covered and the original population. Multiply the periodic rate times the number of periods of time that pass and call the result “X.” For example, if the population in which you are interested grows at 2 percent per year, and you want to calculate what the population, which in this example is 100,000 people, will be in 10 years, you would multiply 0.02 (the decimal form of 2 percent) times 10 (the number of years) to get 0.2 (this
