• Bacterial colonies can grow at rapid rates when in culture with very large numbers of bacteria produced within hours
• Dealing with the experimental data relating to?large numbers?of bacteria can be difficult when using traditional linear scales
  • There is a wide range of very small and very large numbers
  • This makes it hard to work out a suitable scale for the axes of graphs

   

• Logarithmic?scales can be very useful when investigating bacteria

Using logarithms to deal with orders of magnitude

• Logarithmic scales allow for a?wide range of values?to be displayed on a single graph
• For example, yeast cells were grown in culture over several hours. The number of cells increased very rapidly from the original number of cells present
• The results from the experiment are shown in the graph below, using a log scale
  • The number of yeast cells present at each time interval was converted to a logarithm before being plotted on the graph
  • The log scale is easily identifiable as there are?not equal intervals?between the numbers on the y-axis
  • The?wide range of cell numbers fit?easily onto the same scale

   

Image showing the number of yeast cells grown in culture over 10 hours, using a logarithmic scale

• The?pH scale?is logarithmic
  • The concentration of hydrogen ions varies massively between each pH level

   

Image showing the range of hydrogen ion concentrations within the pH scale