Question

You and your lab partner decide to test the effectiveness of two particular phenolic compounds in killing bacteria. You each add 10 µl of one of the compounds to your test and incubate it. Because of a miscommunication, you incubate at 37°C and your partner incubates at 25°C. Based on the results, it appears that your compound killed many more bacteria than did your partner's. What could explain this data?

A. The temperature of your plate increased its permeability. So, the results may simply be a function of greater diffusion rather than better effectiveness.
B. You have to rerun the experiment because the higher temperature may have made your compound more effective.
C. Your compound must have a much greater intrinsic killing ability.
D. Your compounds are so vastly structurally different, you cannot directly compare them.

Answer 1

The effectiveness of the phenolic compounds observed in the experiment may be a result of the different incubation temperatures, as higher temperatures can increase membrane permeability and accelerate chemical reactions, not necessarily the compounds' intrinsic killing abilities.

Step-by-step explanation:

The results showing the compound in the 37°C incubation killing more bacteria than the one in 25°C could be influenced by the difference in temperature. A higher temperature can increase the permeability of bacterial cell membranes, which could lead to increased diffusion of the phenolic compounds into the bacteria, enhancing their antibacterial activity.

Furthermore, the rate of chemical reactions, including those that lead to the bacteria's death, typically increases with temperature. Therefore, it might not be the intrinsic killing ability of the compound that caused the differing results, but rather the effect of the incubation temperature. It is advisable to re-run the experiment at the same temperature to accurately compare the effectiveness of the two compounds.