Sorry, but could you help me with this problem too?

[math-a-phobic]

Hi, I'm sorry for putting up another post so soon, but I don't understand how to solve this. Thank you for all your help!

Problem: There is bacteria growing on the damp bread you left out overnight. Every minute the bacteria cell divides in half, making two cells. Each of these cells continues the process, dividing every minute. At the end of one hour, how many bacteria cells are on the bread? Show all work and give your reasoning. What is the pattern? Express the pattern mathematically and explain it in words. What is the problem's radical function and its asymptotes?

 

[Denis]

(1)2, (2)4, (3)8 ..... (60)1,152,921,504,606,846,976 :shock:

 

[Mrspi]

Hi, I'm sorry for putting up another post so soon, but I don't understand how to solve this. Thank you for all your help!

Problem: There is bacteria growing on the damp bread you left out overnight. Every minute the bacteria cell divides in half, making two cells. Each of these cells continues the process, dividing every minute. At the end of one hour, how many bacteria cells are on the bread? Show all work and give your reasoning. What is the pattern? Express the pattern mathematically and explain it in words. What is the problem's radical function and its asymptotes?

This is an exponential growth situation, so I do not understand why you are supposed to find a "radical function"......no radicals involved.

The basic pattern for an exponential growth function is

y = a*b<SUP>x</SUP>

"a" is the intitial quantity
"b" is growth factor
x is the number of growth periods

For your problem, there is 1 bacterium to start with, so a = 1
Since each bacterium splits into 2 parts, the growth factor b is 2.

The basic function, then, is
y = 1*(2)<SUP>x</SUP>

In 60 minutes, there will be 60 growth periods. So, after 1 hour, the number of bacteria y will be
y = 1*(2)<SUP>60</SUP>

 

[math-a-phobic]

Hi Mrspi, thank you for your help. I think I found a radical expression for this problem, but I'm not sure if it is the same thing as the equation you gave me. The radical function I found was (2^t)/2. Well, I'll check to see if both functions are the same. Thanks again for your help, I really do appreciate it.

 

[Gene]

They are the same except she started with t=0 and you started with t=1
2^t/2=2^(t-1)