A particular species of bacteria has a "a generation time" of 20 minutes. That is, every 20 minutes a single bacterium completes prokaryotic fission -- one bacterium is now two bacterial cells. This morning at 6:00 a. m. you made a sandwich and packed your lunchbox. What you were not aware of was that there were 10 bacteria cells of this species on the dollop of mayonnaise that you spread across your bread. At 12:00 p. m. (no on) You sit down and eat your entire sandwich! How many bacteria cells did you have for lunch? (Hint: use the formula 2axb x C = numbers of cells, where "a" - number of times per hour the bacteria reproduces, "5" the number of hours the bacteria had to reproduce, and "C" = the number of bacteria at the start).​

Number of bacteria cells = 2621440 cells

Explanation:

The generation time of a bacteria specie is the time it takes for a population of bacteria to double in number. The generation time for most common bacteria is quite short, about 20 minutes to 1 hour.

Bacteria reproduce asexually by binary fission, in which the parent cell divides into two to produce two identical daughter cells.

In the given question, the generation time of the bacterial species is 20 minutes.

The time that have passed from between the time the sandwich was packed at 6:00 am to lunch time by 12:00 pm is 6 hours.

Using the given formula in the hint: number of cells = 2^(ab) × C

Where a = number of times per hour the bacteria reproduces; b = number of hours; C = number of bacteria at the start

a = 60 minutes/ 20 minutes = 3; b = 6; C = 10

Number of cells = 2^(3 × 6) × 10

Number of cells = 2621440 cells

it would lead to upper respiratory infections and pneumonia.