Dayyn Sisson Math, 2nd Period

Portfolio Writeup
A Rat Problem

Portfolio Writeup: Summary

Answer: 1808 rats in a year (360 day period). 0 3 40 3 80 3 120 3 9 160 3 9 9 200 3 9 9 9 240 3 9 9 9 9 27 280 3 9 9 9 9 9 27 27 27 320 3 9 9 9 9 9 9 27 27 27 27 27 27 360 3 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 81

Dayyn Sisson Math, 2nd Period

Portfolio Writeup: Conclusion Process

I came to this conclusion (there are 1808 rats in a year) by drawing out the above table. This is my second attempt at the problem. The first time I tried it, I got 1032 rats. The reason why there was such a low number of rats (776 less) is because I failed to account for the reproduction of the third generation of rats. Originally, once the second generation of rats reproduced, that generation never produced any babies themselves. Although not all the rats in the third generation have enough time to reproduce in that year, all of them born on day 240 were able to reproduce, making up for that extra 776 rats. In the above table, those numbers are of just the females. To make up for the males, you multiply that number by two and add two for the first two rats. The table representing the periods of rats looks like:

Generation 1 2 3 4 5

Number of Rats 2 18 126 438 880