Editing Disease Transfer (section)

== Why This Works ==

Diseases can transfer from host to host in a variety of ways. Coughing and sneezing are common ways for disease to spread, and other diseases can survive on surfaces like counters and doors. Something as simple as shaking hands with someone could be enough to transfer the illness from one person to another, and then that person becomes a new host to spread the disease.

To track how quickly a disease spreads, we can look at how many were original carriers, and how many became hosts. (''Note: for the following section, this will assume a class of 30 students.'')
{| class="wikitable" style="color:black; background-color:#ddd; text-align: left; margin-right: 20"
| Rounds
| Total Infected
|-
| 0 (Start)
| 3
|-
| 1
| ~6
|-
| 2
| ~11
|-
| 3
| ~19
|-
| 4
| ~27
|}

This sample data collection shows how quickly our disease can spread from one host to another. As more trials were performed, the number of people infected increased faster and faster. This is because with each new trial, there were even more people infected than before, with the rate of growth accelerating. This means that the rate at which a disease spreads is ''Exponential'', or grows faster as time goes on.

For tracking the spread of disease, you can use a simple "Pint-size"<!--PUNPUNPUNPUNPUNPUNPUNPUNPUNPUN--> calculation:
{| class="wikitable" style="color:black; background-color:#ddd; text-align: left; margin-right: auto"
|+ Exponential Growth
| '''P ≈ i''' * 2<sup>''N''</sup> '''/ T'''
|-
| '''P''': Percentage infected
|-
| '''i''': Initial # infected
|-
| ''N'': Number of Trials performed
|-
| '''T''': Total # of people
|}
This equation is a way to approximate how many will be infected by the end of each trial, and in general it will be quite accurate. There will be some small differences from the actual results, since the equation doesn't account for anyone who is infected mixing with another infected individual. However, it still shows us how the spread of diseases, like the common cold or flu, can be predicted using math.