Question

A bacterium is in a glass. Every second it splits in half. Each of the resulting bacteria splits in half the following second, and so on. The glass is filled a minute later. In what time could the glass be filled if, initially, there were 4 bacteria in it?

Answer 1

The glass would be filled with bacteria in 60 seconds.

Step-by-step explanation:

The question asks how long it would take for a glass to be filled with bacteria if the bacteria split in half every second. Initially, there were 4 bacteria in the glass. To find the time it takes for the glass to be filled, we can think about the doubling time. Each bacteria splits in half, resulting in 2 bacteria after 1 second, 4 bacteria after 2 seconds, and so on. This doubling pattern continues until the glass is filled. Since the glass is filled a minute later, we can calculate the doubling time by finding how many times the bacteria doubled in a minute. There are 60 seconds in a minute, so the doubling time would be 60 seconds divided by the time it takes for the bacteria to double. In this case, the bacteria double every second, so the doubling time is 1 second. Therefore, the glass would be filled in 60 seconds.