Final answer:
Bacterial growth is exponential, with the population doubling at regular intervals, resulting in a J-shaped growth curve. Starting with a single bacterium, the number of bacteria would exceed the capacity of a one-liter jar after 24 hours due to exponential growth. Various methods are utilized in laboratories to count and manage bacterial cultures.
Step-by-step explanation:
Bacterial growth typically follows an exponential growth pattern, where the number of bacteria doubles after every constant time period, known as the doubling time. An initial bacterium count of 600 will grow exponentially if conditions such as nutrients and space are not limiting.
After one hour, if each bacterium divides, there would be 1200 bacteria. In another hour, each of these would divide, resulting in 2400 bacteria, and so on. This growth rate is characterized by a J-shaped growth curve when the population size, N, is plotted over time. After 24 hours of such cycles with a doubling time of one hour, the population would surge considerably, far exceeding the initial 600 count.
For a more realistic scenario, if the doubling time is extended to 30 minutes, we must calculate the number of bacteria we need to start with to fill a one-liter jar to capacity, given that the jar holds around 1016 bacteria.
To reach full capacity in 24 hours with a doubling time of 30 minutes, we'd calculate the number of doublings within 24 hours (which is 48) and then work backwards from 1016 bacteria to find the initial number needed.
This can be done by dividing 1016 by 248, showing that starting with even a single bacterium, we'd have far more than 1016 bacteria after 24 hours, highlighting the power of exponential growth in bacteria.
Different methods such as direct viable cell count, the pour plate and spread plate methods, membrane filtration, and the most probable number (MPN) method are used to estimate bacteria numbers during laboratory experiments. These methods help in understanding the growth dynamics and managing culture conditions effectively.