The bacteria in a jar triple every 20 seconds. After three minutes, there are 275,562 bacteria in the jar. How many were in the jar at the beginning of the experiment?
+37167 In three minutes there are 9 sets of 20 seconds
so the original colony triples 9 times
x 39 = 275562
x = 275562 / 39
x = 14 original bacteria
