Read Generation Time and Exponential Growth
A concise NSEB read for generation time and exponential growth. Learn the key idea, then apply it in the linked practice.
Generation Time and Exponential Growth is the central idea in this question pattern. Identify the condition in the stem before applying the method below.
Core idea
Generation time is the interval between successive divisions.
Convert units first, then compute generations; exponential growth quickly exceeds linear intuition.
Exponential Doubling
Calculate bacterial population after 20 hours. Each bacterium doubles every 30 min. In 20 h there are 40 generations.
This is approximately 1014. Answer: A. Page 3
Generation Time
Calculate orders of magnitude of culture growth.
After 4 h there are 2 generations, so the increase is only 4-fold, i.e. less than one ten-fold order. After 24 h there are 12 generations: 2¹² = 4096, about 10³.6, i.e. 4 ten-fold orders. After 48 h there are 24 generations: 2²⁴ ≈ 1.68 x 10⁷, i.e. about 7 orders. Hence less than 1, 4, 7.
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- ✓Generation time is the interval between successive divisions.
Use the information in the question and the stated assumptions before choosing an answer.
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