The Monod equation is:

where µ = specific growth rate coefficient

= maximum growth rate coefficient

S = concentration of limiting nutrient

Ks = Monod coefficient. This is also called the half-saturation coefficient because it corresponds to the concentration at which µ is one-half of its maximum. This can be seen from the Monod equation by setting S equal to Ks.

Graph of Monod Equation

The curve is a plot of specific growth rate coefficient versus concentration of growth-limiting substrate when there is no inhibition. You should experiment with permutations of the coefficients to observe what happens.

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