A urine sample with more than 100,000 organisms is considered indicative of infection. A urine sample containing 5,000 bacteria, with a generation time of 30 minutes, sits for 3 hours before finally being assayed. How many bacteria will then be present within the sample?
A) 320,000
B) 100,000
C) 64,000
D) 15,000
E) 10,000

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

In 3 hours, there are 6 generations (3 hours * 60 minutes/hour / 30 minutes/generation). Starting with 5,000 bacteria, after each generation, the number of bacteria doubles. Therefore, after 6 generations, the bacteria count will be 5,000 * 2^6 = 5,000 * 64 = 320,000.

A Urine Sample with More Than 100,000 Organisms Is Considered