Consider a population of 10 million cells. Given the per-capita birth rate of 0.002 (per unit time) and the per-capita death rate of 0.002 (per unit time), the expected number of cells after 10 generations is __________.

Step-by-step solution

Given initial population N₀ = 10 million. Per-capita birth rate b = 0.002 . Per-capita death rate d = 0.002 . The intrinsic rate of natural increase r is given by r = b - d . r = 0.002 - 0.002 = 0 . The population growth equation is N_t = N₀ e^ rt . Substituting r = 0 , we get N_t = N₀ e^0 = N₀ . Thus, the population size remains constant over time. The expected number of cells after 10 generations is 10 million. Answer: 10 million