Answer:
27,000
Step-by-step explanation:
We have been given that after a dose of an antibiotic, the number of bacteria decreases. The equation is [tex]y=27,000(\frac{1}{3})^x[/tex] models this "decay" situation. We are asked to find the original number of bacteria.
We know that an exponential decay function is in form [tex]y=a\cdot b^x[/tex], where,
y = Final value,
a = Initial value,
b = Decay factor,
x = Time.
Upon looking at our given equation, we can see that initial value is 27,000, therefore, 27,000 represents the original number of bacteria.