Question

A scientist is studying the growth of bacteria. The bacteria double every 20 minutes. If there are 5 bacteria at the beginning, how many bacteria will be there in 2 hours? (Provide the formula and step-by-step answer)

Answer 1

The formula to calculate the number of bacteria is explained and applied to find the number of bacteria after 2 hours.

Step-by-step explanation:

To calculate the number of bacteria after a certain time period, we can use the formula.

In this case, the initial number of bacteria is 5, the doubling time is 20 minutes, and the time period is 2 hours (which is 120 minutes). Substituting these values into the formula:

# of bacteria = 5 * (2^(120/20))

# of bacteria = 5 * 2^6

# of bacteria = 5 * 64

# of bacteria = 320

Therefore, there will be 320 bacteria in the flask after 2 hours.