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Treating, curing and preventing disease - Edexcel Maths - Bacterial calculations

The immune system defends humans from pathogens. Physical and chemical barriers prevent infection. White blood cells attack pathogens. Immunisations usually involve injecting inactive pathogens.

Part of Biology (Single Science)Health, disease and the development of medicines

Maths - Bacterial calculations

Bacteria reproduce at regular intervals, for example every 20 minutes. This allows mathematical calculations to be undertaken in order to predict how many bacteria will be present in a given time.

How to calculate the number of bacteria in a population

Question

The mean division time for bacteria population A is 20 minutes. The starting bacteria population of A is 1. Calculate how many bacteria will be present after 6 hours.

Part 1

Question

Calculate how many times the bacteria divide in 6 hours.

Part 2

Question

Calculate the number of bacteria in the population.

Additional practice questions

Question

The mean division time for a bacterial population is 30 minutes. Calculate how many bacteria will be present after 8 hours, when starting with 1 bacterium.

Question

The mean division time for bacteria population C is 20 minutes. Calculate how many bacteria will be present after 2 hours, when starting with 10 bacteria.