Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hi,
I am just wondering if there is an easier way to measure the amount of bacteria grown from an agar plate- as all the solutions I have researched involve using, expensive scientific equipment.

Dear juanbanana,

I researched ways that you could measure the amount of bacteria, but they all seem to involve equipments that are hard to access. Therefore, you could research labs that are located nearby and contact them to ask if you could use their equipments for your experiment.

Good luck with your project.

RicaC

Hi RicaC

Thank you for your reply, I will try and research more but if there is no option left, I will do what you have suggested.

Regards

juanbanana

There is actually a way of estimating bacterial counts. It is based on using a series of standardized barium sulphate precipitations in test tubes for comparison with the bacterial sample. The crystals formed in the reaction are similar enough to bacteria to let you estimate the number of cells in suspension. Here is a link to a pdf with the protocol: http://www.dalynn.com/dyn/ck_assets/files/tech/TM53.pdf