The organism E. coli is a common bacterium. Under certain conditions, it undergoes cell division approximately each 20 minutes. During cell division, each cell divides into cells.
(a) Explain why the number of E. Coli cells present is an exponential function of time.
The number of E. Coli present is an exponential function because the number of cells is doubling each 20 minutes, representing constant proportional change
(b) What is the hourly growth factor for E. coli?
8
(c) Express the population N of E. coli as an exponential function of time t measured in hours. (Use $N_0$ to denote the initial population, and t to denote the time in hours.)
$N = N_0 \cdot 8^t$
(d) How long will it take a population of E. coli to quintuple in size? (Round your answer to two decimal places.)
hr
