In a lab experiment, 30 bacteria are placed in a petri dish. The conditions are such that the number of bacteria is able to double every 7 hours. How many bacteria would there be after 16 hours, to the nearest whole number?Answer:
Q. In a lab experiment, 30 bacteria are placed in a petri dish. The conditions are such that the number of bacteria is able to double every 7 hours. How many bacteria would there be after 16 hours, to the nearest whole number?Answer:
Calculate Doublings: Determine the number of times the bacteria will double in 16 hours.Since the bacteria double every 7 hours, we divide the total time by the doubling period.16 hours ÷7 hours per doubling period =2.2857 doublingsHowever, since bacteria can only double a whole number of times, we need to consider only complete doublings within the 16-hour period.2 complete doublings will occur in 14 hours (2×7 hours).
Calculate Bacteria After Doublings: Calculate the number of bacteria after the complete doublings.The initial number of bacteria is 30. After each doubling, the number of bacteria will multiply by 2.After 2 doublings: 30×2×2=30×4=120 bacteria.
Remaining Time: Determine the remaining time after the last complete doubling. 16 hours - 14 hours = 2 hours remaining.
Calculate Growth in 2 Hours: Calculate the growth of bacteria during the remaining 2 hours.Since the bacteria double every 7 hours, we need to find out how much they grow in 2 hours.Growth in 2 hours = 2 hours / 7 hours per doubling period.This is a fraction of a doubling period, so we need to raise 2 (the doubling factor) to the power of this fraction.Growth factor = 2(2/7).
Calculate Bacteria After 16 Hours: Calculate the number of bacteria after 16 hours.We multiply the number of bacteria after the complete doublings by the growth factor.Number of bacteria after 16 hours =120×272.Using a calculator, 272≈1.24573.Number of bacteria after 16 hours ≈120×1.24573≈149.4876.
Round to Nearest Whole Number: Round the number of bacteria to the nearest whole number.Since we cannot have a fraction of a bacterium, we round to the nearest whole number.Approximately 149.4876 rounds to 149 bacteria.
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