Bacteria

What kills germs?

Question 1 :Describe the effects of the various antibiotic drugs you used. Were they all equally
effective at controlling bacterial growth? How do you know?
Ans : Penicillin and Amoxicillin had similar performance levels when it came to controlling
Hemophilious influenzae and Streptococcus pneumonia. Neither was very good for controlling
staphylococcus aurenus. However, Erythromycin was better for controlling the staphylococcus
aurenus bacteria. I know this becuase of the size of the diameter of zone of inhibition on the petri
dish.

Question 2 :Describe the effects of various chemical disinfectants you used. Were they all equally
effective at controlling bacterial growth? Would you use them to halt the growth of bacteria in your
home or on your body?
Ans : Household bleach was the most effective chemical disinfectant, followed by household
disinfectant, then anti-backterial soap. I would use bleach in my household cleaning to kill bacteria.

Question 3 :Compare the effectiveness of the different antibiotic drugs and chemical disinfectants.
Which seem to be better at controlling bacterial growth? Why do you think this is so?
Ans : Household bleach, penicillin, and amoxicillin were most effective at controlling bacteria
growth, however, bleach was the most effective. This is because bleach isn't intended for human
consumption. Antibiotics have to kill bacteria without killing the person taking it. With bleach, this
isn't an issue.

Question 4 :If you were a doctor treating a patient infected with Staphylococcus aureus, a bacterium
that causes mild to moderate skin infections, which antibiotic would you prescribe? Why?
Ans : I would prescribe Erythromycin to a patient infected with Staphylocuccus aureus because it
has the largest diameter zone of inhibition of all the antibiotic drugs for this particular bacteria. This
means that it is the most effective antibiotic.

Question 5 :Can you think of any limitations of this technique of testing the effectiveness of
antimicrobial agents? If a real person were involved, what other tests might give you more
confidence in your results?
Ans : The virtual lab may not be realistic. For example, if there is a problem with the algorhythm
underlying the program, the results could be wrong. Doing this experiment in person would allow for
additional opportunities to check the work to make sure that the results are correct.