← all specimens Learning Guide · Density on a small screen
9:41LG

Specimen V

Reading an equation on a phone

The equation built one term at a time, with a graph you can scrub.

The question

How does a population grow when food and space are limited?

It cannot climb for ever. Calculus lets us write the brake straight into the growth, so the rule and its limit sit in one line.

Build it, one part at a time

dP/dt
Part 1 of 4

The solution, plotted live

0 100 200 0 5 10 15 20 P time (t) K = 200

The full working

Separate the variables, integrate, and the rule becomes a closed form for P at any time t. That line is very wide, so it stays whole and scrolls sideways rather than being crushed.

∫ dP / [ P (1 − P/K) ] = ∫ r dt  ⟹  ln[ P / (K − P) ] = r t + C  ⟹  P(t) = K / ( 1 + A e^(−r t) ),  A = (K − P₀) / P₀

Turn your phone sideways for the whole line at once.