How many bacteria will there be after four hours from a single bacterium that divides to produce two cells every 15 minutes

If a bacterium divides into 2 every 15 minutes, there would be 65536 bacteria after four hours.

The bacterium divides into 2 every 15 minutes. Thus, the cell will divide:

60/15 x 4 = 16 times in 4 hours

Thus:

More on bacterial division can be found here: link

65,536 cells

Explanation:

According to the question, a single bacterium will divide into new cells every 15minutes. Since there are four 15 minutes in one hour, which is 60 minutes, a single bacterium will have divided (4×60/15) times =

= 240/15

= 16 times.

Since a single bacterium will divide 16 times in four hours cells, then in four hours, a single bacterium will have divided into 2^16 = 65536 new cells.

Note that, the number of cells a bacterium cell that will divide in two can be expressed as 2^n where n is the number of times