Ritu puts 250 cells of a soil bacterium into a flask of nutrient broth.
Contributed by StemPy LabTry it on paper first. A hint, the key idea and the worked solution are here when you need them.
Ritu puts cells of a soil bacterium into a flask of nutrient broth. Each cell divides into two every minutes, and none dies. How many divisions take place in hours, and how many cells are there then? How many cells would there be if each division took hour instead?
Need a reminder? The key ideaShow
Bacteria are the sole members of kingdom Monera. A bacterial cell has no nuclear membrane and no membrane-bound organelles, and its wall is not of cellulose. By shape bacteria are coccus (round), bacillus (rod), vibrio (comma) or spirillum (spiral). They divide mostly by binary fission, so after divisions one cell becomes . Archaebacteria (halophiles, thermoacidophiles, methanogens) live in extreme places because of a different cell wall.
The worked solution
Have you tried it?
Work it out on paper first. It is fine to get stuck or make a mistake: that is how we learn. When you are ready, go through the solution one step at a time, and check each step against your own.
Step 1. Divisions. , and divisions.
Step 2. Cells. cells.
Step 3. Slower division. With hour for each division, hours hold divisions: cells.
Answer: divisions and cells; with hour divisions only cells.
Discussion (0)
Log in to join the discussion.
Loading…