Question

A particular strain of bacteria doubles in population every 10 minutes. Assuming you start with a single bacterium in a petri dish, how many bacteria will there be in 2.5 hours

Answer 1

22,500 bacteria will be in 2.5 hours

Answer 2

Let the initial number of bacteria be $x_{0}$

Number of bacteria doubles in population every 10 minutes

After 10 minutes number of bacteria = 2$x_{0}$

number of bacteria present after t minutes,

$x = x_{0}\times2^{t}$

When t = 2.5 hrs = 2.5 (60) = 150 minutes

So every 10 minutes t = 150/10 = 15

Now substitute t = 15 minutes and $x_{0}$ = 1, we get

$x = 1\times2^{15}$

x = 32,768 bacteria