Question

A human cell doubles every hour. Which exponential equation and solution will show how many hours it will take for 1 cell to become 16 cells?

A) 2^x = 16; x = 4 hours
B) 2x = 16; x = 8 hours
C) x^2 = 16; x = 4 hours
D) 2x = 16; x = 4 hours

Answer 1

The correct solution for the doubling of a human cell until it becomes 16 cells is 2^x = 16, and the number of hours it will take is x = 4, which is option A.

Step-by-step explanation:

The student is asking how many hours it will take for 1 human cell to become 16 cells, assuming it doubles every hour. This is a case of exponential growth and the correct way to model this situation is with an exponential equation: 2x = 16. To solve for x, we can equate the powers of the base 2 since 16 is 2 raised to the 4th power (24).

Therefore, the correct equation and solution is A) 2x = 16; x = 4 hours, which means it will take 4 hours for one cell to become 16 cells through exponential growth.