Answer to Question #101713 in Biology for Abbie

Question

Binary Fission in bacteria if very fast, sometimes doubling every 20 minutes. If bacteria can divide every 20 minutes how many bacteria would there be after 4 hours if there were originally 100?

Answer 1

As bacteria divide every 20 minutes for 4 hours, the number of their division equals:

4h / 20min = 240min / 20min = 12 divisions

The number of bacteria after 12 divisions is:

N = N₀ × 2¹² , where N₀ - the initial number of bacteria.

N = 100 × 2¹² = 100 × 4,096 = 4,096,100 bacteria.

Answer: 4,096,100 bacteria.