Hello,

I'm a bit frustrated by one section of my microbiology reading for this week. I just can't wrap my head around the variables in the equation for cell population count and prediction of cell numbers in x amount of time.

I'm reading https://courses.lumenlearning.com/microbiology/chapter/how-microbes-grow/ .

One of the sample questions asks, "With a doubling time of 30 minutes and a starting population size of 1 × 10⁵ cells, how many cells will be present after 2 hours, assuming no cell death?"

The formula is 

Nn=N02n

N_n is the number of cells at any generation n, N₀ is the initial number of cells, and n is the number of generations.

Would someone please translate this formula in a different way so that I can calculate it on my own?

2 hours ago, turtletoes said:

Would someone please translate this formula in a different way so that I can calculate it on my own?

Does this help: N_n= N₀ x 2ⁿ  . It's the same as the above formula but I have included the multiplication sign, which is excluded by convention but it is implied.

First find the value of n, which is the number of generations possible in 2 hours.

Edited February 4, 20196 yr by StringJunky

That helps, yes. Thank you, kind sir. I'm changing careers midstream, and it's been SO long since I've had to do this.

No problem. Make sure you Include the initial generation in your value of n.

 

Edited February 5, 20196 yr by StringJunky