Question #7f620

1 Answer
Feb 18, 2017

1024.

Explanation:

The amount of bacteria in the tube after t minutes (we can be sure that holds for positive integers at least) is given by the function:

f(t) = 2^t

We can see that at t=0, 2^0 = 1 = f(0) which is the initial amount that we started with. After 1 minute, there are 2^1 = 2 bacteria, and after 2 minutes, there are 2^2 = 4, after 3 there are 2^3 = 8 and so on. So, after 10 minutes, we have

f(10) = 2^10 = 1024 bacteria.

---Side note---

If we wanted to also find the amount of bacteria that the tube can hold, we know that it fills up after 1 hour, or 60 minutes, so it can hold up to 2^60.