Bacteria in a Glass

Level 1

A number of bacteria are placed in a glass. One second later each bacterium divides in two, the next second each of the resulting bacteria divides in two again. After one minute the glass is full. When was the glass half-full? (in seconds)


The answer is 59.

Aditya Joshi by Aditya Joshi , 28, India

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3 solutions

Aw nuts! I was about to post the same question!

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Aayush Patni
Nov 28, 2014

in 1 sec-2 bacteria 2 sec- 4 bacteria 60 sec- 2^60 bacteria = 1 glass therefore 1/2 glass = 2^60/2= 2^59

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Dude u need more clarification... whether to write the answer in seconds or not............... any how the answer is 59 seconds. Because each bacteria becomes twice every second if the glass is filled in 60 seconds so the glass must be half filled at 59 th second........ thank u

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