Figure 2. Illustration of how different experimental conditions can affect growth rates over time.

Cell number (left) and log₁₀ of the cell number (middle) over time for a cell line showing optimal, constant growth (black), delayed growth where the growth rate is very low at the beginning of the experiment (light blue), saturated growth where growth slows down significantly at the end of the experiment (dark blue), and synchronized growth where cells divide approximately at the same time leading to greatly fluctuating growth rates (red). Under optimal conditions the growth rates are relatively constant during the window of a typical experiment (0–72 hr; shaded yellow), but rates change significantly over time under the other three regimes.