coli is 37 oC. The temperature with the least amount of growth for E. coli is 65 oC. This is because it is past the maximum temperature, and therefore the bacteria started dying. The optimal temperature for B. stearothermophilius is 65 oC. The temperature with the least amount of growth for B. stearothermophilius is 25 oC. Because B. stearothermophilius is a thermophile, it likes to be grown in high temperatures and cannot be killed with excessive heat. Therefore, the lowest temperature had the least amount of growth because it slowed growth the most. E. coli had the longest generation time of 75 minutes. B. stearothermophilius had a shorter generation time of 60 minutes. A shorter generation time means that the bacterium can double its population in less time.
It is important to keep bacteria at its correct incubation temperature in order to keep them alive. If a person would like to study bacteria, they need to have viable cells to study. It is also important to know the temperature that will result in the fastest growth, in order to get the most visible growth (4). Cell density is the number of cells found in one area. Optical density (O.D.) is the same as absorbance, and it is used for measuring bacterial growth, which would be the number of cells