Growth of bacteria: The organism E. coli is a common bacterium. Under certain conditions it undergoes cell division approximately each 20 minutes. During cell division, each cell divides into two...

Growth of bacteria: The organism E. coli is a common bacterium. Under certain conditions it undergoes cell division approximately each 20 minutes. During cell division, each cell divides into two cells.

a. Explain why the number of E. coli cells present is an exponential function of time.

b. What is the hourly growth factor for E. coli?

c. Express the population N of E. coli as an exponential function of time t measured in hours. (Use N0 to denote the initial population.)

d. How long will it take a population of E. coli to triple in size?