Why Do Numbers Get Bigger So Fast?

Imagine you have one penny, and every day it doubles. One day, it becomes two pennies. The next day, four. Then eight. Soon you’ll be counting hundreds of pennies without even trying! That’s exponential growth, when things grow by multiplying themselves over and over again, like magic.

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Examples

  1. A cake grows bigger every time it's cut in half.
  2. A pet mouse has two babies each year, those babies have two more each year.
  3. If you start with one sticker and double it each day, you'll be covered in stickers by the end of the week.

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