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Maths - Bacterial calculations

Bacteria reproduce at regular intervals, for example every 20 minutes. This allows mathematical calculations to be undertaken in order to predict how many bacteria will be present in a given time.

How to calculate the number of bacteria in a population

Question

The mean division time for bacteria population A is 20 minutes. The starting bacteria population of A is 1. Calculate how many bacteria will be present after 6 hours.

Part 1

Question

Calculate how many times the bacteria divide in 6 hours.

Part 2

Question

Calculate the number of bacteria in the population.

Additional practice questions

Question

The mean division time for a bacterial population is 30 minutes. Calculate how many bacteria will be present after 8 hours, when starting with 1 bacterium.

Question

The mean division time for bacteria population C is 20 minutes. Calculate how many bacteria will be present after 2 hours, when starting with 10 bacteria.