how do you count bacteria?

Question

is there a way? cuz i am doing a science fair project and i want to use bacteria in it, but i will have to count them. is there a way to cuont bacteria?? please need urgently~!! i really appreciate it if you answer! thank you so much! :)

Answer 1

Various methods:

1. For science fair purposes. you can simply show different samples/petri dishes and the visual difference should be pretty clear from dish to dish without have to actually count every single individual bacterium.

2. Scientifically there is a process where you bake the sample, scrape the dried residue onto a slide evenly, then focus in and count a section of the slide one by one, then multiply by the total area of the slide.

3. Another option is weighing the residue and multiplying it by the pathologic quotient for that specific type of bacteria, which is the conversion factor based on the known molar weight for that bacterium.

4. Simplest and most accurate solution is to send your samples to a local laboratory and pay them a nominal fee to give you the exact data you are looking for. I have done this with mold spore sampling here in South Florida.

Answer 2

I work at a water treatment plant and we do heterotrophic plate counts every day. We simply count the colonies (little blotches of growth).

Answer 3

in many cases, micro organism grown on agar at the instant are not counted individually. somewhat, you count type the type of colonies (small circles) formed on the agar. once you smear the micro organism onto the plate, each man or woman bacterium would desire to at last multiply, forming a around colony. In different words, each colony on your agar represents one "founder" bacterium out of your water pattern.

Answer 4

spread it onto an agar plate. Each bacteria replicates into a colony (a little dot that you can see with the naked eye)

Answer 5

My son and his partner just counted the blotches in the culture dishes, and they made it to city finals!

Oh, that is basically what the above answer is saying.

Answer 6

With a microscope silly!!!