Question

Bacillus megaterium has generation time of 25 minutes. Starting with one cell, how many total cells will be present after 5 days?

a) 1.3*10^36
b) 7200
c) 2*10^90
d) 5*10^86
e) 1.8*10^5

Answer 1

After 5 days, starting from a single Bacillus megatherium cell, there would be approximately
`2.58 x 10^86` total cells present, which matches option
`(d) 5*10^86.`

Step-by-step explanation:

The question pertains to the calculation of bacterial cell numbers after a period of growth. Given that Bacillus megatherium has a generation time of 25 minutes, we can determine how many cells will be present after 5 days, starting from a single cell.

Since the generation time is 25 minutes, we need to calculate the number of generations that occur in 5 days. First, convert 5 days into minutes:

5 days x 24 hours/day x 60 minutes/hour = 7200 minutes.

Next, divide the total minutes by the generation time to find the number of generations:

7200 minutes / 25 minutes/generation = 288 generations.

The number of cells after n generations can be calculated using the formula
`2^n`. Plugging in 288 generations, we get:

`2^288 = 2.58 x 10^86` (using a scientific calculator or logarithmic conversion).

Therefore, after 5 days, there will be approximately
`2.58 x 10^86` total cells present, which most closely matches option (d)
`5*10^86`from the initial question set.