Explanation:
We can approach this problem using exponential decay, where the number of bacteria decreases by 60% per day. Let N be the initial number of bacteria on Wednesday, then the number of bacteria on Friday can be calculated as:
N_Friday = N_Wednesday x (0.4)^2
where (0.4)^2 is the factor by which the number of bacteria decreases from Wednesday to Friday.
We are given that the number of bacteria on Wednesday is 2.4 x 10, so we can substitute this into the equation:
N_Friday = 2.4 x 10 x (0.4)^2
Simplifying this expression, we get:
N_Friday = 0.96
Therefore, the number of bacteria that will be detected in the laboratory test on Friday is 0.96. Note that the units are not specified in the question, so we assume that the number is given in some arbitrary units.