Bunuel wrote:
Tough and Tricky questions: Exponents.
A certain population of bacteria doubles every 10 minutes. If the number of bacteria in the population initially was 10^5, then what was the number in the population 1 hour later?
A) 2(10^5)
B) 6(10^5)
C) (2^6)(10^5)
D) (10^6)(10^5)
E) (10^5)^6
Kudos for a correct solution.Source: Chili Hot GMAT
I did this problem by noticing a pattern. Since the population doubles every 10 minutes, basically all we are doing is doubling our coefficient in front of 10^5. It starts out at (1)10^5 and after 10 minutes it is (2)10^5 and at 20 its (4)10^5. I noticed every 10 minutes we are increasing our power of 2.
An hour is 60 minutes, so the bacteria will double 6 times. This means that our coefficient will end up being 2^6. Looking at the answer choices, choice (C), (2^6)(10^5) is correct.