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Biological exponential growth is the unrestricted growth of a population of organisms, occurring when resources in its habitat are unlimited. [1] Most commonly apparent in species that reproduce quickly and asexually , like bacteria , exponential growth is intuitive from the fact that each organism can divide and produce two copies of itself.
Figure 1: A bi-phasic bacterial growth curve.. A growth curve is an empirical model of the evolution of a quantity over time. Growth curves are widely used in biology for quantities such as population size or biomass (in population ecology and demography, for population growth analysis), individual body height or biomass (in physiology, for growth analysis of individuals).
Often the independent variable is time. Described as a function, a quantity undergoing exponential growth is an exponential function of time, that is, the variable representing time is the exponent (in contrast to other types of growth, such as quadratic growth). Exponential growth is the inverse of logarithmic growth.
A quantity undergoing exponential decay. Larger decay constants make the quantity vanish much more rapidly. This plot shows decay for decay constant (λ) of 25, 5, 1, 1/5, and 1/25 for x from 0 to 5. A quantity is subject to exponential decay if it decreases at a rate proportional to its current value.
Exponential growth or exponential decay—where the varaible change is proportional to the variable value—are thus modeled with exponential functions. Examples are unlimited population growth leading to Malthusian catastrophe , continuously compounded interest , and radioactive decay .
The Leslie matrix is a discrete, age-structured model of population growth that is very popular in population ecology named after Patrick H. Leslie. [1] [2] The Leslie matrix (also called the Leslie model) is one of the most well-known ways to describe the growth of populations (and their projected age distribution), in which a population is closed to migration, growing in an unlimited ...
The law of exponential growth can be written in different but mathematically equivalent forms, by using a different base, for which the number e is a common and convenient choice: = = /. Here, x 0 {\displaystyle x_{0}} denotes the initial value of the quantity x , k is the growth constant, and τ {\displaystyle \tau } is the time it takes the ...
Exponential growth cannot continue indefinitely, however, because the medium is soon depleted of nutrients and enriched with wastes. The stationary phase is often due to a growth-limiting factor such as the depletion of an essential nutrient, and/or the formation of an inhibitory product such as an organic acid. Stationary phase results from a ...