Question

Here are two jars of equal capacity. In the first jar, there is one amoeba; in the second, there are two amoeba. An amoeba reproduces itself in 3 min. If it takes the two amoebas in the second jar 3 hr to fill the jar to capacity, the first jar will be filled to its capacity in

Answer 1

An amoeba reproduces every 3 minute. So, if the second jar with two amoebas takes 3 hours to get filled, the first jar with one amoeba would take additional 3-minute (one doubling-period) to get filled, therefore, it would take 3 hours and 3 minutes.

Step-by-step explanation:

The question is asking us to understand the concept of exponential growth. Given that an amoeba reproduces itself every 3 min, the population of amoebas in the jar doubles every 3 min. For the second jar starting with 2 amoebas, it takes 3 hours to fill the jar to capacity. Therefore, if the first jar starts with only one amoeba, it would take one more doubling-period (3 min) to reach the same capacity as the second jar. Thus, the first jar will be filled in 3 hours and 3 minutes.

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