Bacterial Growth Simulator
How to use the bacterial growth simulator
- Set the doubling time and the number of cells you start with. Cells appear on the plate as the population doubles, every 20 minutes for E. coli in a rich medium.
- The chart plots the count on a log scale, where exponential growth is a straight line. The dashed line is unlimited growth; the solid one bends over as the culture nears its carrying capacity.
- Speed up time to see a whole growth curve, from lag through log phase to the stationary plateau.
Frequently asked questions
How fast do bacteria multiply?
E. coli doubles about every 20 minutes under ideal conditions, so one cell becomes 8 in an hour, 4,096 in four hours and over 10²¹ in a day if nothing ran out. In practice nutrients, space and waste limit the culture long before that.
What is the formula for exponential growth?
N = N₀ × 2^(t ÷ Td), where Td is the doubling time. The Cell Doubling Time Calculator finds Td from two counts, and the guide on calculating doubling time shows the working.
What is carrying capacity?
The largest population the environment can support. The simulation uses the logistic equation, in which the growth rate falls as the population approaches this limit, giving the S-shaped curve seen in real cultures. The phases of a growth curve are lag, exponential (log), stationary and death.
It says WebGL is turned off.
The 3D view needs WebGL, which every current browser has. It can be switched off by hardware acceleration being disabled in the browser settings, or by a very old graphics driver. Turn hardware acceleration on, or try another browser.
Is anything uploaded?
No. The simulation is drawn by your own browser with WebGL; nothing is sent anywhere, and it keeps working offline once the page has loaded.