Mitosis & Meiosis: Thinking Scientifically

It takes 15 minutes for certain embryo cells to divide. How many cells

would be produced from one cell after four hours? Hint: Start with one

cell at time zero, so after 15 minutes you would have 2 cells, etc.

Show your work:

65536 cells

Explanation:

starting from 1 cell at zero minutes there will be 1 (2^0) cell; 2^0 = 1

after 15 minutes there will be 2 (2^1) cells

after another 15 minutes (30 min) there will be 4 (2²) cells

after another 15 minutes (45 min) there will be 8 (2³) cells

after n number of 15 minutes there will be (2^n) cells

calculate number of 15 minutes in 4 hours

4 hours = 4 * 60 minutes

number (n) of 15 minutes in 4 hours = (4 * 60 minutes) / 15 minute = 16

using the formula above and substitute 16 for n in the formula

Number of cells = 2 ^n = 2^16 = 65536 cells