Last visit was: 19 Nov 2025, 08:05 It is currently 19 Nov 2025, 08:05
Close
GMAT Club Daily Prep
Thank you for using the timer - this advanced tool can estimate your performance and suggest more practice questions. We have subscribed you to Daily Prep Questions via email.

Customized
for You

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History

Track
Your Progress

every week, we’ll send you an estimated GMAT score based on your performance

Practice
Pays

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History
Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.
Close
Request Expert Reply
Confirm Cancel
User avatar
mastergmat1
Joined: 29 Aug 2007
Last visit: 11 Oct 2007
Posts: 63
Own Kudos:
79
 [74]
Posts: 63
Kudos: 79
 [74]
10
Kudos
Add Kudos
64
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Most Helpful Reply
User avatar
Bunuel
User avatar
Math Expert
Joined: 02 Sep 2009
Last visit: 19 Nov 2025
Posts: 105,389
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 99,977
Products:
Expert
Expert reply
Active GMAT Club Expert! Tag them with @ followed by their username for a faster response.
Posts: 105,389
Kudos: 778,262
 [16]
11
Kudos
Add Kudos
4
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
User avatar
fluke
User avatar
Retired Moderator
Joined: 20 Dec 2010
Last visit: 24 Oct 2013
Posts: 1,099
Own Kudos:
5,095
 [11]
Given Kudos: 376
Posts: 1,099
Kudos: 5,095
 [11]
8
Kudos
Add Kudos
3
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
General Discussion
User avatar
Fistail
Joined: 03 May 2007
Last visit: 14 Mar 2019
Posts: 330
Own Kudos:
1,285
 [7]
Given Kudos: 7
Concentration: Finance, Economics
Schools:University of Chicago, Wharton School
Posts: 330
Kudos: 1,285
 [7]
6
Kudos
Add Kudos
1
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
beatgmat
8. A certain culture of bacteria quadruples every hour. If a container with these bacteria was half full at 10:00 a.m., at what time was it one-eighth full?

(A) 9:00 a.m.
(B) 7:00 a.m.
(C) 6:00 a.m.
(D) 4:00 a.m.
(E) 2:00 a.m.


little tricky: A

now = x/2
full = x
1/8 full = x/8
so: (x/8) (4n) = x/2
n = 1 hour

it was 9:00 am.
User avatar
ashkrs
Joined: 08 Jun 2007
Last visit: 21 Feb 2019
Posts: 282
Own Kudos:
340
 [3]
GMAT 1: 680 Q48 V35
Posts: 282
Kudos: 340
 [3]
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
2
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
beatgmat
8. A certain culture of bacteria quadruples every hour. If a container with these bacteria was half full at 10:00 a.m., at what time was it one-eighth full?
(A) 9:00 a.m.
(B) 7:00 a.m.
(C) 6:00 a.m.
(D) 4:00 a.m.
(E) 2:00 a.m.


A .
Its 1/2 . So what was it at 9 am. Since quadrupled one hour back it was 1/8. So the answer.
User avatar
banksy
Joined: 10 Feb 2011
Last visit: 01 Apr 2011
Posts: 86
Own Kudos:
1,949
 [1]
Given Kudos: 10
Posts: 86
Kudos: 1,949
 [1]
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Fistail
beatgmat
8. A certain culture of bacteria quadruples every hour. If a container with these bacteria was half full at 10:00 a.m., at what time was it one-eighth full?

(A) 9:00 a.m.
(B) 7:00 a.m.
(C) 6:00 a.m.
(D) 4:00 a.m.
(E) 2:00 a.m.

little tricky: A

now = x/2
full = x
1/8 full = x/8
so: (x/8) (4n) = x/2
n = 1 hour

it was 9:00 am.




Could u please explain why 4n?
User avatar
Bunuel
User avatar
Math Expert
Joined: 02 Sep 2009
Last visit: 19 Nov 2025
Posts: 105,389
Own Kudos:
778,262
 [2]
Given Kudos: 99,977
Products:
Expert
Expert reply
Active GMAT Club Expert! Tag them with @ followed by their username for a faster response.
Posts: 105,389
Kudos: 778,262
 [2]
Kudos
Add Kudos
2
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
User avatar
ScottTargetTestPrep
User avatar
Target Test Prep Representative
Joined: 14 Oct 2015
Last visit: 18 Nov 2025
Posts: 21,713
Own Kudos:
26,995
 [1]
Given Kudos: 300
Status:Founder & CEO
Affiliations: Target Test Prep
Location: United States (CA)
Expert
Expert reply
Active GMAT Club Expert! Tag them with @ followed by their username for a faster response.
Posts: 21,713
Kudos: 26,995
 [1]
Kudos
Add Kudos
1
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
beatgmat
A certain culture of bacteria quadruples every hour. If a container with these bacteria was half full at 10:00 a.m., at what time was it one-eighth full?

(A) 9:00 a.m.
(B) 7:00 a.m.
(C) 6:00 a.m.
(D) 4:00 a.m.
(E) 2:00 a.m.

This problem is easily solved if you work it forwards, starting from the time the container was ⅛ full. Let’s start there:

1/8 x 4 = 1/2

So we see it took 1 hour to go from 1/8 full to 1/2 full. So at 9 am it was 1/8 full.

Alternate Solution:

Since the number of bacteria quadruple every hour, let’s go backwards in time from the point where the container was ½ full:

(½)/4 = (½)/(4/1) = (½) x (¼) = ⅛.

We see that one hour earlier, the container was ⅛ full of bacteria. This was at 9 am.

Answer: A
User avatar
EncounterGMAT
Joined: 10 Oct 2018
Last visit: 16 Oct 2019
Posts: 317
Own Kudos:
600
 [4]
Given Kudos: 185
Status:Whatever it takes!
GPA: 4
Posts: 317
Kudos: 600
 [4]
3
Kudos
Add Kudos
1
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
mastergmat1
A certain culture of bacteria quadruples every hour. If a container with these bacteria was half full at 10:00 a.m., at what time was it one-eighth full?

(A) 9:00 a.m.
(B) 7:00 a.m.
(C) 6:00 a.m.
(D) 4:00 a.m.
(E) 2:00 a.m.

I solved the question using numbers, which makes it more easier.

Total bacteria when container is full=80
At 10:00 am when container is half full=40
\(\frac{1}{8}\) of full = \(\frac{1}{8}\) * 80 = 10

Since the bacteria quadruples every hour,
10 * \(4^n\)=40
\(4^n\)=4
=> n=1 (hr)

So it took 1 hr to fill half(40) from 10. Hence, 10:00 am minus 1 hr=9:00 am (Option A)
User avatar
sanjna2023
Joined: 17 Feb 2017
Last visit: 31 Jan 2024
Posts: 77
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 629
Location: India
GMAT 1: 680 Q48 V35
GPA: 4
WE:Consulting (Consulting)
Products:
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
The way I solved this was by imagining a pie with parts (Picture enclosed)
Working backwards-
If the bacteria occupied Part 1(Blue) which constitutes 1/8th of the dish, in one hour it quadruples. This means from 1 part, it occupies 4 parts which is 1/2 the dish. Thus it takes an hour.

Approach 2
Another way to think about it is assume, each Part (1/8 part) = 2 units

Thus, in 1 hour, 4*2 = 8 units => 8 units = 2^3 or 3 parts more from Part 1. 3 parts more implies 4 parts of the Pie chart or 1/2 the petri dish.

Hope this helps.
Attachments

Dish part bacteria.JPG
Dish part bacteria.JPG [ 20.96 KiB | Viewed 29373 times ]

User avatar
MooneeyTunes
Joined: 27 Mar 2019
Last visit: 25 Dec 2020
Posts: 20
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 23
Posts: 20
Kudos: 2
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
fluke
Sol:

Method1:
*******
We know the bacteria quadruples every hour: i.e. if at x hrs, the count is 100, at time x+1 hrs, the count will be 400, x+2: 1600 and so on;
Reverse is also true; if at x hours the count is 1600, x-1 hrs, it would have been 1600/4=400; x-2:400/4=100 and so on...

Same way:
@ 10:00 am: The count was 1/2(Half)
@ 9:00 am: The count would have been (1/2)/4 = 1/8
Thus the bacteria count was 1/8 @ 9:00 AM.
******************************************

Method2:
*******
A more mathematical and little cumbersome approach would be the Geometric Progression:

To find the nth term in a GP;
\(A_n=a*r^{(n-1)}\)


We know
\(a=1/2\); This is the first term and represents the count of bacteria at time 10:00AM
\(r=1/4\)
\(A_n=1/8\); This is the \(n^{th}\) term and represents the count of bacteria (n-1) hours before 10
\(n=?\)

\(A_n=a*r^{(n-1)}\)
\(\frac{1}{8}=\frac{1}{2}*(\frac{1}{4})^{(n-1)}\)
\(\frac{1}{4}=\frac{1}{4^{(n-1)}}\)

Equating the denominator:
n-1=1
n=2;

So; we know the bacteria reached 1/8 @ n=2; Time = 2-1=1 hour before 10:00AM=9:00AM

The latter method may be little subtle but is a generalized way to deal with such questions. The former should be your first choice to solve such questions and latter may be used only as a fall back method.

Ans: "A"

Why did you do Time =2-1?
User avatar
bumpbot
User avatar
Non-Human User
Joined: 09 Sep 2013
Last visit: 04 Jan 2021
Posts: 38,588
Own Kudos:
Posts: 38,588
Kudos: 1,079
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Hello from the GMAT Club BumpBot!

Thanks to another GMAT Club member, I have just discovered this valuable topic, yet it had no discussion for over a year. I am now bumping it up - doing my job. I think you may find it valuable (esp those replies with Kudos).

Want to see all other topics I dig out? Follow me (click follow button on profile). You will receive a summary of all topics I bump in your profile area as well as via email.
Moderators:
Math Expert
105389 posts
Tuck School Moderator
805 posts