Culture vessel โ instanced cell population (log-scaled for visibility)
Population vs. time โ logโโ(N) growth curve
When bacteria are inoculated into fresh liquid medium, their population size over time traces a characteristic four-phase curve: lag, exponential (log), stationary, and death. This simulation does not draw that curve โ it computes it, step by step, from a real Monod-kinetics growth model: ฮผ(S) = ฮผmaxยทS/(Ks+S), where the specific growth rate ฮผ depends on the momentary concentration of a limiting nutrient S. As the population grows, it consumes nutrient (mass-balanced against a yield coefficient) and produces metabolic waste; once the nutrient is nearly exhausted and waste has accumulated, growth rate collapses and the death phase emerges on its own.