A culture of Paramecium contains 500 individuals. The population triples every 45 minutes. How many individuals will be present after 3 hours?
Answer
40,500 individuals
The correct answer is 40,500 individuals — Thus 40,500 individuals are present after 3 hours.
Step-by-step solution
- Convert the total time into minutes: 3 hours = 180 minutes.
- Divide 180 minutes by the interval of 45 minutes to get the number of growth cycles: 180/45 = 4 cycles.
- Each cycle multiplies the population by 3, so the overall multiplication factor is 3^4 = 81.
- Multiply the initial count by this factor: 500 × 81 = 40,500.
- State the final population.
- Thus 40,500 individuals are present after 3 hours.
Common mistake: Using 45 min as 0.75 hour and raising to a non‑integer exponent
Concept tested: Population growth by tripling
Published · Last updated · How this solution was prepared and checked
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