I have also found a formula, which tells me the time taken for all of the tomatoes to turn bad in any tray. However the rule will not work for trays below 4cm². The formula is 2n-3 in which the n stands for the size of a particular tray, eg. 5cm². The formula tells me the time taken for a whole tray to turn bad. I will prove this by using a tray, sized 10cm² as it is a tray, which I have not used and is not in keeping with the regular patern.
Using my formula to calculate the time taken for the tray to turn bad, I predict that it will take 17 hours for a whole tray measuring 10*10 to turn bad.
2 * 10 – 3 = 17
Next I will investigate patterns in the trays by starting from different positions. I will use the same sizes trays for all of the different positions, (3*3, 4*4 and 5*5). The first trays will hold the bad tomatoes in the centre.
This graph measures 3*3
This tray measures 4*4
This tray measures 5*5
These trays show me that as the tray size increases, the amount of time doesn’t necessarily increase which was a definite factor in the trays which were used at the start. I have also found a formula which tells us the maximum number of tomatoes which turn bad at any one time.
L x 2 – 2 = Maximum No. of tomatoes which turn bad at any one time
Next I will be investigating a tray with the first bad tomato in the corner. Again I will be using trays measuring 3*3, 4*4 and 5*5.
This tray measures 3*3
This tray measures 4*4
This tray measures 5*5
Now I will investigate infinite trays starting from different positions. The first with the bad tomato positioned in the left hand corner.
The next infinite tray will have the bad tomato in the middle of the tray along the first column.