Question

exponential growth (diagram a) refers to the phenomena of populations that double in size every generation. if you start with a single bacterium capable of dividing every 20 minutes, how many bacteria would you have after just four hours?

Answer 1

After four hours with a bacterium dividing every 20 minutes, there would be 12 doublings, resulting in 4096 bacteria. This is an example of exponential growth displaying a J-shaped growth curve.

Step-by-step explanation:

Calculating Exponential Bacterial Growth

To calculate the number of bacteria after four hours, we need to recognize this as an example of exponential growth, which is common in bacterial populations. Since the given bacterium doubles every 20 minutes, there will be three doublings per hour. Over four hours, this equates to 4 hours * 3 doublings/hour = 12 doublings.

Starting with a single bacterium, we can apply the formula for exponential growth, which is N = N0 * 2n, where N is the final population size, N0 is the initial population size (which is 1 in this case), and n is the number of doublings. Calculating this, we get 1 bacterium * 212, which equals 4096 bacteria.

Therefore, after four hours, you would have 4096 bacteria. This rapid increase is a characteristic of the J-shaped growth curve seen in populations experiencing exponential growth.