Index
A scientist is experimenting with bacteria that are one micron in diameter and that reproduce by
dividing every minute into two bacteria. At 12:00 PM, she puts a single organism in a container.
At precisely 1:00 PM, the container is full.
At what time was the container half full?
The container was half full at 12:59 PM. When the bacteria doubled in the next minute, the container became full. This is an example of exponential growth where the growth rate is a mathematical function that is proportional to the function's current value.
