Question

A colony of bacteria starts with 2 bacteria at noon. If the colony of bacteria triples every 30 minutes, how many bacteria will be present at 3:00 P.M. on the same day?

Answer 1

1458

Step-by-step explanation:

If the bacteria started with just 2 at noon (12:00), in three hours the number of bacteria would have increased to 1458.

12:00- 2 bacteria

12:30- 2×3= 6 bacteria

13:00- 6×3= 18 bacteria

13:30- 18×3= 54 bacteria

14:00- 54×3= 162 bacteria

14:30- 162×3= 486 bacteria

15:00- 486×3= 1458 bacteria