Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

I am going to do my experiment on which disinfectant removes the most bacteria off of my hands. I am going to use antibacterial soap, normal soap, scented hand sanitizer, unscented hand sanitizer, and warm water. I was wondering how I should perform my procedure? What do I use to look at the bacteria-a black light?

Hi Olivia,

I found a project here that sounds similar to what you are doing. Have a look - https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... p018.shtml. I think it answers your questions, but please let me know if it doesn't or more questions come up.

Have fun!
Tonya

Hello there,

Cool project idea! Tonya showed you a great link to get you started on planning your experiments. However, one thing to keep in mind though is that if you plan on testing all these things on your own hands, you would have to let the bacterial community on your hands recover between each test round because after you wash your hands with normal soap, it is to be expected that you will have less bacteria than before. You will have to let the bacteria on your hands recover back to a "pre-washing" state before you can test the effects of another disinfectant. As for how to look at the bacteria, I don't think you can look at the bacteria with a black light. You can swab your hands with something like a cotton swab, and then streak that onto an agar plate and let the bacteria grow up to visualize the bacteria present pre- and post-disinfection.

Let us know if you have anymore questions!

Connie