Assume that today there is one unit of food for each person. According to Malthus's prediction, how much food would there be in the future?

a. 75 years from now, we will have 2 units of food per person.

b. 200 years from now, we will have 6 units of food for 7 people.

c. 100 years from now, we will have 5 units of food for 16 people.

d. 25 years from now, we will have 4 units of food per person.

e. 50 years from now, we will have 3 units of food for 3 people.

Question

Advanced Placement (AP)

Cory Brock

6 April, 01:13

Assume that today there is one unit of food for each person. According to Malthus's prediction, how much food would there be in the future?

a. 75 years from now, we will have 2 units of food per person.

b. 200 years from now, we will have 6 units of food for 7 people.

c. 100 years from now, we will have 5 units of food for 16 people.

d. 25 years from now, we will have 4 units of food per person.

e. 50 years from now, we will have 3 units of food for 3 people.

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Answers (1)

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Uriah Hawkins · Answer 1

c. 100 years from now, we will have 5 units of food for 16 people. Malthus's prediction is that the growth of population is exponential (1,2,4,8,16) while the growth of food production is only arithmetic (1,2,3,4,5). So let's look at the options and see what makes sense in that light. a. 75 years from now, we will have 2 units of food per person. * This option claims that food production is greater than population which is in conflict with Malthus's prediction. So this is a bad choice. b. 200 years from now, we will have 6 units of food for 7 people. * This is in agreement with Malthus, but it implies a very low doubling factor for population. Not nearly pessimistic enough for Malthus. So it's a bad choice. c. 100 years from now, we will have 5 units of food for 16 people. * This implies that there's been 4 doubles of population (1,2,4,8,16) while there's only been 4 increments of food (1,2,3,4,5) which is in exact agreement with Malthus. So this is the correct choice. d. 25 years from now, we will have 4 units of food per person. * This implies greater growth rate for food production. So wrong choice. e. 50 years from now, we will have 3 units of food for 3 people. * This implies equal growth rate for food and population. So wrong choice. Note: To be totally honest, none of these options actually match Malthus's prediction. His prediction is that population growth is exponential and food production is merely arithmetic. But when population exceeds available food, there will be a die off from starvation or disease and the population will drop until it's below the available food supply. So the case of 5 food for 16 people would never happen since the excess people die before that situation occurs.