The logistic equation
Problem 6.266 · hard
A population follows the logistic model with growth rate \( \displaystyle r = \frac{3}{10} \) per year, carrying capacity 10000, and initial population 2500. Find \( \displaystyle P(t) \), \( \displaystyle P(7) \), and when the population reaches 5000.
- Equilibria: P = 0 and P = K = 10000. The solution has the form P = K/(1 + Ae^(−rt)) with A = (K − P₀)/P₀.Reviewed
- \[ 3 \]A.✓ Proved
- \[ \frac{d}{d t} \frac{10000}{1 + 3 e^{- \frac{3 t}{10}}} = \frac{3000 - \frac{3000}{1 + 3 e^{- \frac{3 t}{10}}}}{1 + 3 e^{- \frac{3 t}{10}}} \]This P(t) satisfies the differential equation.✓ Proved
- \[ 2500 \]and the initial condition.✓ Proved
- \[ \frac{10000}{\frac{3}{e^{\frac{21}{10}}} + 1} = \frac{10000 e^{\frac{21}{10}}}{3 + e^{\frac{21}{10}}} \]P(7).✓ Proved
- \[ \frac{10 \ln{\left(3 \right)}}{3} \]Half the carrying capacity when Ae^(−rt) = 1, i.e. t = ln(A)/r.✓ Proved
Answer \( P(t) = \frac{10000}{1 + 3 e^{- \frac{3 t}{10}}},\ P(7) \approx 7313.3,\ t = \frac{10 \ln{\left(3 \right)}}{3} \approx 3.662 \)
✓ Nihil obstat Lines: 5 proved, 1 reviewed. The answer was also checked a second way, without looking at the solution. Reviewers found nothing wrong with the explanation.
The full receipt
| Line | Status | Checked by | Detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Reviewed | reviewers: gpt-oss:20b, qwen3.6:27b-mlx | a sentence; read, not computed |
| 2 | ✓ Proved | sympy 1.14.0 | simplify(lhs - rhs) reduced to 0 |
| 3 | ✓ Proved | sympy 1.14.0 | simplify(lhs - rhs) reduced to 0 |
| 4 | ✓ Proved | sympy 1.14.0 | simplify(lhs - rhs) reduced to 0 |
| 5 | ✓ Proved | sympy 1.14.0 | simplify(lhs - rhs) reduced to 0 |
| 6 | ✓ Proved | sympy 1.14.0 | simplify(lhs - rhs) reduced to 0 |
| answer, a second way | ✓ Checked independently | sympy 1.14.0 + mpmath 1.3.0 | the differential equation solved numerically (Taylor-series ODE solver) from P(0) |
Reviewers
gpt-oss:20b: passqwen3.6:27b-mlx: pass — The solution correctly identifies the logistic growth formula, calculates the constant A, and verifies the differential equation and initial conditions. The final values for P(7) and the time to reach half the carrying capacity are derived correctly.
Every verdict on record (4)
gpt-oss:20b: pass 2026-10-06qwen3.6:27b-mlx: pass 2026-10-06 — The solution correctly identifies the logistic growth formula, calculates the constant A, and verifies the differential equation and initial conditions. The final values for P(7) and the time to reach half the carrying capacity are derived correctly.qwen3.6:27b-mlx: pass 2026-10-06 — The solution correctly derives the logistic function parameters, verifies the differential equation and initial condition, and accurately computes the specific values requested.gpt-oss:20b: pass 2026-10-06
Proved: SymPy reduced the difference between the two sides to zero. Checked independently: a separate
method, named above, confirmed it. Checked numerically: the two sides agree at every sampled point, which is evidence,
not proof. Reviewed: a model or a person read it; that is all a sentence can have. Solution by
generator:structured/logistic_equation, checked 2026-10-06 with SymPy 1.14.0.