the bacteriologist - how big was the container?

puzzle answer
the bacteriologist problem - part 2
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, he puts
a single organism in a container. at precisely 1:00 pm, the container is full.
how big was the container?
answer:
the number of bacteria in the container is 2n where n is the number of minutes
elapsed. the full container has 260 (two to the sixtieth power), or
approximately 1.153�1018 bacteria. since one micron (one millionth of a meter)
is 1�10-4 centimeters, each bacterium occupies a volume of about 1�10-12 cubic
centimeters. multiplying times the number of organisms, we conclude that the
container had a capacity of 1.153�106 cc or 1,153 liters. the container was
slightly bigger than one cubic meter.

260 = 1,152,921,504,606,846,976

copyright 2004 - antonio zamora

www.scientificpsychic.com