Cell Culture Doubling Time
Doubling time, growth rate, and number of doublings from two counts and the elapsed time.
Example
You enter
- Initial count or OD (N0) 100000
- Final count or OD (N) 800000
- Elapsed time (h) 24
You get
- Doubling time 8 h
- Growth rate 0.0866
- Doublings 3
Checked against published worked examples from: Exponential-growth / population-doubling kinetics.
Details, formula, and sources
ScopeDoubling time, specific growth rate, and number of doublings from two counts (or ODs) and the elapsed time (Td = t x ln2 / ln(N/N0)). Valid only in log phase; a span across lag or stationary phase is meaningless.
Formula or tableTd = elapsed x ln(2) / ln(N / N0); mu = ln(N / N0) / elapsed; doublings = log2(N / N0).
Source and editionExponential-growth / population-doubling kinetics (standard growth analysis), by name.
Free accessStandard microbiology / cell-culture growth-kinetics relation; the culture and conditions govern.
What governsEstimate. AHJ and licensed professional govern.
API field namesinitial_count, final_count, elapsed_time, doubling_time, growth_rate, doublings
- Growth phase valid only during log (exponential) phase; lag / stationary spans are meaninglessgrowth-kinetics