If a colony of 50,000 cells is exposed to the same dose that killed 50,000 cells in a colony of 100,000, how many cells will likely die?

The scenario describes a relationship between the number of cells exposed to a specific radiation dose and the resulting cell death. When a dose of radiation effectively eliminates a certain percentage of cells in a population, the same dose applied to a different population of cells should yield a proportional outcome based on the initial number of cells.

In the given context, if the dose kills 50,000 cells in a colony of 100,000, this indicates that the dose has a lethal effect determined by a specific survival fraction. If we apply the same radiation dose to a colony of 50,000 cells, we can expect the same proportion of cells to be affected.

Given that the first colony loses 50% of its cells based on the information that the dose kills 50,000 cells out of 100,000, applying this percentage to the second colony of 50,000 would result in 50% death. Thus, 50% of 50,000 cells equals 25,000 cells.

In this case, the correct answer reflects the understanding that radiation lethality operates on a percentage basis relative to the population size exposed, rather than a fixed number. Therefore, the outcome of 25,000 cells dying aligns with this proportional reasoning.