The generation time for a population of bacteria is the time taken for all the bacteria to divide once by binary fission.
Use the semi-logarithmic graph below and the given equation to calculate the generation time for this population of bacteria between t=−2 hourst = -2\text{ hours}t=−2 hours and t=8 hourst = 8\text{ hours}t=8 hours. Give your answer in hours to two decimal places.
Number of generations=log10(size of population at t=8 hourssize of population at t=−2 hours)log102\text{Number of generations} = \frac{\log_{10}\left(\frac{\text{size of population at } t = 8\text{ hours}}{\text{size of population at } t = -2\text{ hours}}\right)}{\log_{10} 2}Number of generations=log102log10(size of population at t=−2 hourssize of population at t=8 hours)