Question

How can a single cell bacterium grow and reproduce exponentially

Answer 1

Bacteria reproduce exponentially, and at a brisk pace, meaning one bacterium becomes two, two become four, four become eight, and so on. Because of this, bacteria populations can double in four to twenty minutes, giving bacteria the ability to form millions of cells in as little as a few hours. Under the right conditions, a single bacterial cell can replicate into as many as one billion individual bacteria in just 10 hours.