Answer to Question #164408 in Microbiology for Marlene

Question

Hello! I am currently working on an assessment to do with bacteria. I have petri dishes that I have swabbed for bacteria which in result gave me colonies that are countable/visible. However, I have to write down collective data from my results but I have no idea how. The conclusion of my assessment is to see which items has the most bacterial growth but it is hard to calculate this. Do I use some kind of t test? Some formula to do with numbers? I have no materials to measure the bacteria either since the pandemic prevents me from really getting anything from school.

Answer 1

Microbiology

Since bacteria are many and too small organisms, it is better to get an equal portion from each petri dish and calculate the number of bacteria inside. Once you have the number in the portion, then you can tell the estimated population of the bacteria in each petri dish.