Physics I / Differential models in one variable
Practice question · Estimate

A quantity doubles every 10 hours. Without a calculator, estimate how many hours it takes to grow 8-fold.

Estimate on a scale from 0 h (0) to 60 h (60).

Hints
  1. Write 8 as a power of 2.
  2. 8=238 = 2^{3}: three consecutive doublings.
Show the answer

30 (answers within ±2 count)

Why

Three doublings, 30 hours. Thinking in doublings turns exponentials into counting, which is how epidemiologists and bankers estimate at speed (and why the "rule of 70" works).

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