Question

E.coli bacteria reproduce by division. Every 30 minutes one E.coli cell divides into two cells. A new E.coli culture is started with 1 cell. Generate a table of values using time for x and cells for y. Find a function that models the number of E.coli cells at the end of each 30-minute interval.

Answer 1

The formula would be: B = 1(2)^(m/30), where B is the number of bacteria and m is the number of minutes.

For you table, I would start with the value of (0, 1). After no minutes have passed the number of bacteria is just 1. After that, every 30 minutes it will double.