Petri Dish Puzzle

A scientist puts a bacteria in a petri dish at exactly noon.

Every minute the bacteria divides into two and doubles in size. At exactly 1 PM the petri dish is full.

At what time was the dish half full?

Answer

The dish was half full at 12.59 PM.

Since the bacteria doubles every minute, then one minute earlier, the dish must have been half full.

Next Riddle »