A population of bacteria doubles every 3 hours. If you start with 500 bacteria, how many will there be after 9 hours?

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To determine the number of bacteria after 9 hours, given that the population doubles every 3 hours starting with 500 bacteria, follow these steps:

1. **Calculate the number of doubling periods:**
   $$
   \text{Number of periods} = \frac{\text{Total time}}{\text{Doubling time}} = \frac{9 \text{ hours}}{3 \text{ hours/period}} = 3 \text{ periods}
   $$

2. **Apply the doubling formula:**
   The population after a certain number of periods can be calculated using the formula:
   $$
   \text{Final Population} = \text{Initial Population} \times 2^{\text{Number of periods}}
   $$
   
   Plugging in the values:
   $$
   \text{Final Population} = 500 \times 2^3 = 500 \times 8 = 4000
   $$

**Therefore, after 9 hours, there will be 4,000 bacteria.**
After 9 hours, there will be 4,000 bacteria.

A population of bacteria doubles every 3 hours. If you start with 500 bacteria, how many will there be after 9 hours?

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