The population of a bacteria doubles every 2 minutes. Approximately how many minutes will it take for the population to grow from 1 to 500?

A12

B14

C18 ✓ Correct

D20

Correct answer: (C) 18

Explanation

It takes about 18 minutes.

Doubling from 1 needs 2^n to reach 500.

2^9 = 512, so about 9 doublings are needed.

Each doubling takes 2 minutes.

Time = 9 x 2 = 18 minutes.

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