You may have heard that potato salad is one of the worst foods to take for a picnic. This is because it doesn’t take very long for it to become contaminated with bacteria. Assuming that you could remove all the bacteria in the potato salad except 10 (virtually impossible) and that bacteria double every 20 minutes – how many bacteria would there be after 3 hours?
2006-10-28 13:46:42 · 5 answers · asked by OK123 5 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Other - Science
there are 9x 20 minutes in 3 hrs which means bacteria doubles 9 times.
The formula for this is 2^9
but you have ten to start with so it's 10x2^9
=5120
2006-10-28 13:59:07 · answer #1 · answered by anon1mous 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
First off, what does doubling mean?
It means that the population increases by a number equal to itself (or, in other words, you multiply by two).
Secondly, how many 20-minute increments are in a three-hour period? Here's a hint: there are 3 in one hour.
That will tell you how many times you have to multiply the number of bacteria by two.
2006-10-28 20:54:49 · answer #2 · answered by Brian L 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i dont know let me think,,,5 minutes later lol 2880 times 2=5660 bacteria in 180 minutes is that a problem you have to do for school?
2006-10-28 20:55:41 · answer #3 · answered by spiln 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
(3hrs*60mins/1hr)/20mins
=9
total no of bacteria= 10*2^9
=5120 bacteria
2006-10-28 21:55:43 · answer #4 · answered by minnard m 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
5120 bacteria
2006-10-28 20:59:12 · answer #5 · answered by science teacher 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋