The Bacteriologist

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A scientist is experimenting with bacteria that are one micron in diameter and that reproduce by dividing every minute into two bacteria. At 12:00 PM, she puts a single organism in a container. At precisely 1:00 PM, the container is full.

At what time was the container half full?

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    The container was half full at 12:59 PM. When the bacteria doubled in the next minute, the container became full. This is an example of exponential growth where the growth rate is a mathematical function that is proportional to the function’s current value.

    anikam Expert Answered on 18th August 2015.
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