Question

The population of a bacteria colony doubles every 6 hours. For example, starting with a sample of 10 bacteria, after 6 hours there would be 20 bacteria and so on. After 12 hours there would be 40, and so on. Now consider a scientist who has collected a colony of 25 bacteria. Create an expression and approximate the number of bacteria after 3 hours.

Answer 1

If the bacteria grow for six hours, each bacterium will divide 3 times per hour × 6 hours = 18 times.

Every time the bacteria reproduce, the number doubles.