Interpreting Data Because bacteria divide by binary fission, the population size doubles every generation. Suppose the generation time for bacteria that cause food poisoning (for example, Staphylococcus aureus or Salmonella) is 30 minutes at room temperature. The number of cells in a population can be calculated using this formula. Initial number of cells times 2^(Number of generations) = Population size For example, if a dish of potato salad is contaminated with 10 bacteria, the bacterial population after 1 hour (2 generations) is 10 times 2^2 = 40. Fill in the table below to show how the bacterial population increases when a dish of potato salad is left on the kitchen counter after dinner instead of being refrigerated overnight. Why does the rate of increase change over time? Describe how a graph of the data would look.