How quickly can a single bacterial cell multiply in a span of half a day?

Bacterial cells can reproduce through a process called binary fission, where one cell divides into two. If we assume optimal conditions (such as the right temperature, nutrients, and absence of harmful substances), a single bacterial cell can typically double every 20 to 30 minutes.

In half a day, which is 12 hours, there are 720 minutes. If we consider the average doubling time to be around 30 minutes, this results in 24 total doubling periods during that timeframe. Starting with one cell, after one doubling, you have two; after two doublings, you have four; and this pattern continues exponentially.

To calculate how many cells there would be after 12 hours, you can use the formula for exponential growth, which is 2 raised to the power of the number of doublings. With 24 doublings, you calculate 2^24. This equals 16,777,216, which approximates to 16 million in terms of choice format provided.

Thus, when looking at the given options, 16 million is indeed the correct estimate of how many cells a single bacterial cell can multiply into within half a day under ideal conditions.