Question

A biologist puts an initial population of 500 bacteria into a growth plate. The population is expected to double every 4 hours. Which of the following equations gives the expected number of bacteria , n, after x days?

Answer 1

`n=500 * 2^(6x) \\\\n=500*(2^(6))^(x)\\\\n=500 * 64^(x)`

Explanation:

every 24 hour day contains six, 4 hour periods:

`(24)/(4)=6`

Therefore, every day the bacteria experiences six doubling periods.

In other words, everyday you multiply the population by 2, six times