Question

Bacteria can multiply at an extremely high rate when each bacteria splits into two new cells, essentially doubling. If we start with only one bacteria which can double every hour, how many bacteria wi

Answer 1

If you start with one bacterium that doubles every hour, the growth can be calculated as follows:

After 1 hour: 1 bacterium

After 2 hours: 2 bacteria (1 doubled to 2)

After 3 hours: 4 bacteria (2 doubled to 4)

After 4 hours: 8 bacteria (4 doubled to 8)

After 5 hours: 16 bacteria (8 doubled to 16)

After 6 hours: 32 bacteria (16 doubled to 32)

And so on. Each hour, the number of bacteria doubles. Therefore, you can use the formula 2^n to calculate the number of bacteria after n hours, where n is the number of hours that have passed.

For example, after 10 hours, there would be 2^10 = 1024 bacteria.

After 24 hours (1 day), there would be 2^24 = 16,777,216 bacteria.

So, the number of bacteria increases exponentially with time due to the rapid doubling, and the population can grow significantly within a short period in favorable conditions.

I hope this helped!

~~~Harsha~~~