Microbiology - Cell population count

[turtletoes]

Hello,

I'm a bit frustrated by one section of my microbiology reading for this week. I just can't wrap my head around the variables in the equation for cell population count and prediction of cell numbers in x amount of time.

I'm reading https://courses.lumenlearning.com/microbiology/chapter/how-microbes-grow/ .

One of the sample questions asks, "With a doubling time of 30 minutes and a starting population size of 1 × 10⁵ cells, how many cells will be present after 2 hours, assuming no cell death?"

The formula is 

Nn=N02n

N_n is the number of cells at any generation n, N₀ is the initial number of cells, and n is the number of generations.

Would someone please translate this formula in a different way so that I can calculate it on my own?

[StringJunky]

2 hours ago, turtletoes said:

Would someone please translate this formula in a different way so that I can calculate it on my own?

Does this help: N_n= N₀ x 2ⁿ  . It's the same as the above formula but I have included the multiplication sign, which is excluded by convention but it is implied.

First find the value of n, which is the number of generations possible in 2 hours.

Edited February 4, 2019 by StringJunky

[turtletoes]

That helps, yes. Thank you, kind sir. I'm changing careers midstream, and it's been SO long since I've had to do this.

[StringJunky]

No problem. Make sure you Include the initial generation in your value of n.

 

Edited February 5, 2019 by StringJunky