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Equation 1 · Part 2 · Seventy-Five Thousand Generations of E. coli, and Counting

Symbol t

wceiling(t)=1+a t1+b tw_{\text{ceiling}}(t) = 1 + \frac{a\,t}{1 + b\,t}
tt

What this part means

t is an argument of the function-like quantity on the left; its role is set by that function’s stated inputs.

Its job in the formula

t is an argument of the function-like quantity on the left; its role is set by that function’s stated inputs.

The passage around this formula

…limit: growth continues indefinitely, at an ever-slowing rate that nonetheless never reaches zero. Schematically, the contrast is between something like wceiling(t)=1+a t1+b tw_{\text{ceiling}}(t) = 1 + \frac{a\,t}{1 + b\,t}. which approaches a fixed value of 1 + a/b as t grows without bound, and

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Learn the underlying idea

A variable is a named place for a value. Its letter is a local label: x can mean position in one formula and a data point in another.

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Sources cited in the article section

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