An environmental scientist is researching the growth of a photosynthetic microalga, Chlorella vulgaris, for biofuel production.
The scientist prepared an inoculation medium by adding 2.4×10−4 g2.4 \times 10^{-4}\text{ g}2.4×10−4 g of dried Chlorella cells to 1 dm31\text{ dm}^31 dm3 of sterile nutrient solution. The average dry mass of a single microalga cell is 2.4×10−11 g2.4 \times 10^{-11}\text{ g}2.4×10−11 g. Calculate the initial number of algal cells in this inoculation medium. Give your answer in standard form.
Under optimal light and nutrient conditions, the population of this microalga doubles every 30 minutes30\text{ minutes}30 minutes. Using an initial culture containing 1.0×1071.0 \times 10^71.0×107 cells, the scientist plots the log-transformed population size, log10(number of cells)\log_{10}(\text{number of cells})log10(number of cells), against time ttt (in hours) over the first 15 hours15\text{ hours}15 hours.
Determine: