Final answer:
The given formula 15(2)^t/4 for the bacteria population is used to calculate the number of strands present at 16 hours. After calculating the exponent to be 4 and multiplying by 15, we determine there are 240 strands of bacteria at 16 hours.
Step-by-step explanation:
To solve the question of how many strands of bacteria are present at 16 hours, we will use the given exponential growth formula 15(2)t/4, where t is the time in hours. Since we want to know the number of bacteria at 16 hours, we plug 16 in for t in the equation and calculate.
First, we calculate the exponent:
t/4 = 16/4 = 4. Now we raise 2 to the power of 4, which gives us 24 = 16. We then multiply this by the initial number of bacteria, which is 15.
15(2)4 = 15 × 16 = 240. Therefore, after 16 hours, there are 240 strands of bacteria.
The correct answer is d) 240 strands of bacteria.