Question

A culture of bacteria has an initial population of 5900 bacteria and doubles every 3 hours. Using the formula P_t = P_0\cdot 2^{\frac{t}{d}}P

t
​
=P
0
​
⋅2
d
t
​

, where P_tP
t
​
is the population after t hours, P_0P
0
​
is the initial population, t is the time in hours and d is the doubling time, what is the population of bacteria in the culture after 10 hours, to the nearest whole number?

Answer 1

To find the population of bacteria in the culture after 10 hours, we can plug the values into the formula provided: P_t = 5900 * 2^(10/3) = 5900 * 2^(3.333...) = 5900 * 8 = 47,200

Rounded to the nearest whole number, the population of bacteria in the culture after 10 hours is 47,200.