A bacterial culture is observed to contain 5.0×102 cells at 12:00 noon and 2.0×103 cells at 4:00 p.m. Assume that the population grows exponentially.
a. (i) Calculate the growth constant k (per hour) correct to four decimal places.
b. (ii) Estimate the number of cells that will be present at 10:00 p.m. on the same day.