Final answer:
Starting with 10 bacteria in a petri dish, there will be 40960 bacteria after 120 minutes if the bacteria double every 10 minutes.
Step-by-step explanation:
In this scenario, bacteria in a petri dish double every 10 minutes. Starting with 10 bacteria initially, we need to calculate how many bacteria will be present after 120 minutes. To do this, we need to determine the number of doubling times the bacteria will go through in 120 minutes. Since each doubling time is 10 minutes, there are a total of 120/10 = 12 doubling times. Each doubling time results in the population doubling, so after 12 doubling times, the initial population of 10 bacteria will become 10 x 2^12 = 40960 bacteria.