I'm doing some exercises and I had this one:
Obviously, it's an exponential table since $y$ gets multiplied by $3$ every time. But if its exponential and the exponent is $x$ wouldn't an exponent of $x=0$ be equal to $y=1$, and if $x=1$ then $y=3$ because of exponential rules?
"Exponential growth" doesn't require the data to follow $y = c^x$; it permits an additional constant multiplier, such as $y = a \cdot c^x$. This is similar in spirit to how linear growth does not require $y = m \cdot x$, but also permits an additive term via $y = m \cdot x + b$.