Question

In a recent experiment, anti-bacterial hand sanitizer was compared to hand soap. Students washed their hands using the sanitizer or soap and warm water for two minutes; then they dried their hands with a paper towel. The standard of comparison was rubbing hands vigorously for 2 minutes in warm water, without any soap or sanitizer, and then drying with a paper towel. The sanitizer advertisement claimed to kill bacteria more effectively than any soap. After washing, hands were swabbed and then the swab applied to a culture plate and incubated. Finally, the bacterial cultures were counted and recorded in the data table. What would be a valid conclusion to draw from this data? A) All methods are effective in killing bacteria. B) Both soap brands out perform hand sanitizer in killing bacteria. C) Warm water is as effective as soap or sanitizer in killing bacteria. D) Hand sanitizer is more effective than either soap in killing bacteria.

Answer 1

B) Both soap brands out perform hand sanitizer in killing bacteria.

Looking at the data, the conclusion is pretty obvious, the two different types of soap resulted in about half the bacteria cultures as either the hand sanitizer, or just using warm water. In fact, the hand sanitizer looks like it's even worse than simply using warm water. So looking at the four available options, the best choice is "B) Both soap brands out perform hand sanitizer in killing bacteria."

Answer 2

Both soap brands out perform hand sanitizer in killing bacteria. Would be the answer.