What Does Logistic Growth Mean?
Logistic growth refers to any type of growth that exhibits a steady expansion followed by an abrupt slowdown.
Logistic growth is represented in graph form as an S-shaped curve.
Logistic growth refers to any type of growth that exhibits a steady expansion followed by an abrupt slowdown.
Logistic growth is represented in graph form as an S-shaped curve.
Various phenomena can follow a logistic growth pattern. Population growth, industrial growth, the spread of resources, human or machine learning, and the way a rumor diffuses through a population can all be plotted on an S-shaped graph.
In population models, for instance, logistic growth occurs when an abundance of resources results in a population expansion that then slows down dramatically once resources become scarce.
The S-curve, named the Gompertz curve after the mathematician who discovered it, has four phases:
Source: The Foresight Guide
The growth point (GP), inflection point (IP), and saturation point (SP) are points on the curve where changes in growth conditions can be observed.
The following formula is used for the logistic growth of a population:
dN/dt = rN (1 – N/K)
where
It is further assumed that
r = b – d
where
From this formula, we can deduce that