Why do whole numbers raised to an exponent get greater while fractions raised to an exponent get smaller

Amanda went into the grocery business starting with five stores. after one year, she opened two more stores. after two years, she opened two more stores than the previous year. if amanda expands her grocery business following the same pattern, which of the following graphs represents the number of stores she will own over time?

When solving this problem: 3025/5.5 = a/90.75 you get 49912.5 which would be the length of one of the sides of a square when the area is only 90.75 inches. is that answer correct, why, and how is it possible?

What is the radius of the cone in the diagram? round your answer to the nearest whole number