Researchers recorded that a certain bacteria population declined from 800,000 to 500,000 in 6 hours after the administration of medication. At this rate of decay, how many bacteria would there have been at 24 hours? Round to the nearest whole number

We can assume that the decline in the population is an exponential decay.

An exponential decay can be written as:

P(t) = A*b^t

Where A is the initial population, b is the base and t is the variable, in this case, number of hours.

We know that: A = 800,000.

P(t) = 800,000*b^t

And we know that after 6 hours, the popuation was 500,000:

p(6h) = 500,000 = 800,000*b^6

then we have that:

b^6 = 500,000/800,000 = 5/8

b = (5/8)^(1/6) = 0.925

Then our equation is:

P(t) = 800,000*0.925^t

Now, the population after 24 hours will be:

P(24) = 800,000*0.925^24 = 123,166