fossil problem of the week

Question

Bacteria which attack the body reproduce every 20 minutes.

If an improperly prepared mummy has 200 bacteria, how many bacteria will it hold 40 minutes later? Two hours later? Show your work.

Answer 1

You know that when bacteria reproduce, 1 bacterium becomes 2 bacteria, which means they double in population.

So if you start with 100, after 20 minutes you’ll have 200.

Start with 200, in 20 minutes each of those bacteria will split into 2, making them 400, and with another 20 minutes, you’ll have 800 bacteria(400x2). So you continue, doubling every 20 minutes.