On average, activated yeast cells divide once every 120 minutes; that is, each individual cell divides into two individual cells over that time span. given that a certain yeast colony consisted of 310,000 cells two hours ago, approximately how many cells will be populating the colony six hours from now?

The correct answer is 4,960,000

Explanation:

If a yeast cell divides into two yeast cells in 120 minutes that means a yeast cell needs 2 hours to get double. So according to the question 2 hours ago a yeast colony consisted of 310,000 cells that means the present colony should have 620,000 cells.

So after six hours from now, this population will divide three times in six hours because the generation time of yeast cell is 2 hour and each time the number of cells will double.

Therefore, in first time the number will increase to 1,240,000(620000*2), the second time the number will increase to 2,480,000(1240000*2) and after final division, the number will be 4,960,000(2480000*2).

Therefore after 6 hours from now, the approximate number of yeast cells will be 4,960,000.

your spelling is a little off : ]