Template:N-life/doc

Usage

Note: {{decay}} redirects here.

parameter	description
n=	Change factor (2 = double, 0.5 = half)
t=	Time for change (i.e. if something takes 20 minutes to double then set t = 20 and n = 2)
start=	Starting population (defaults to 1)
end=	Ending population (defaults to 0.5)
scale=	Allows for scale changes (i.e. enter 60 if t is based in minutes and the result is desired as hours)
dec=	Number of decimals to round (defaults to number of significant figures in n)
n2=	2nd change factor (i.e. something doubles every 20-30 minutes, set n=20 and n2=30)
end2=	2nd possible ending population
t2=	2nd possible time needed for change

blank template:

{{n-life
|n=
|t=
|start=
|end=
|scale=
|dec=
|n2=
|end2=
}}

Examples

Growth

Given that a bacterium doubles every 20 minutes, the number of hours until the population has increased by a factor of 1 million (10^6) would be:

= 6.6

{{n-life|n=2|t=20|start=1|end=10^6|scale=60|dec=1}}

Radioactive decay

Knowing that the half life of an element is 2 years, the number of days it takes for 10% of the atoms to decay would be:

= 111

{{n-life|n=0.5|t=2|end=1-0.1|scale=1/365.25|dec=1}}

You can confirm this result by plugging in 0.9 ^ ((365.25 * 2) / 111) into your calculator, which should yield a result ~0.5.

Probability

Assuming there is a 1% chance of winning a prize per ticket, the number tickets one would need to have a 75% chance of winning:

= 137.935

{{n-life|n=1-0.01|end=1-0.75|dec=3}}

You can confirm the final example using the equation (1-0.01)^137.935 which equals ~0.25 (25% chance of losing).

Range

In 5 years, I plan to be 10-15 times richer than today. Thus, to stay on track, I need to double my wealth every...

1.3 - 1.5 years

{{n-life|n=15|n2=10|t=5|end=2|dec=1}} years

See Also

• {{Change}}
• {{Order of magnitude}}
• {{APR}}