Suppose that a colony of bacteria starts with 1 bacteria and doubles in numbers every half hour. how many bacteria will the colony contain at the end of 24 h

281474976710656

Explanation:

As each half hour passes, the colony of bacteria doubles. Initially, the numbers are fairly low, but the amounts become larger and larger as they compound.

Hour 0- 1

Hour 0.5- 2

Hour 1- 4

Hour 1.5- 8

Hour 2- 16

Hour 2.5- 32

By hour 10, the bacteria will have increased to 1048576. By hour 15, the number of bacteria will be 1073741824. By hour 24, the colony will contain 281474976710656 bacteria.