A biologist observes that a certain bacterial colony triples every 4 hours and after 12 hours occupies 1 square centimeter. Assume that the colony obeys the population growth law. The area the colony occupied when first observed was: (a) 1/9 sq. cm (b) 1/81 sq. cm. (c) 1/36 sq. cm (d) 1/27 sq. cm. (e) None of the above.

The table below shows the approximate masses of a dust particle and a grain of pollen. dust particle 0.000000778 g grain of pollen 0.00000000155 g the mass of a dust particle can be estimated and written in the form a × 10^b, where a = 8 and b = the mass of a grain of pollen can be estimated and written in the form a × 10^b, where a = 2 and b = based on the estimates, the mass of a dust particle is approximately blank times larger than the mass of a grain of pollen.