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Mathematician explains why coronavirus 'exponential growth' is not as terrifying as it sounds

Human intuition has a hard time understanding what it really means.

Tperry
By TperryMar 11, 2020
Tperry
Tod Perry is a freelance writer from Long Beach, California.
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There are a lot of opinions flying around about COVID-19, also known as the coronoavirus. So, it's hard to know just how freaked out we should be about how far it will spread and the number of people it will affect.

One terrifying term that gets bandied about is "exponential growth." Does that mean that it will eventually expand until it infects everyone? Well, according to mathematician Grant Sanderson, that's not likely.

But that doesn't mean you should stop washing your hands.

In the video below, Sanderson uses his numerical skills to show what the disease's "exponential growth" really means from a pure numerical perspective.

covis-19 spreadgrant sandersoncnnellenexponential growth coronavirus

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