Researchers conducted an experiment to identify the effects of three different hand sanitizers on the growth of bacteria. the researchers grew one type of bacteria in twenty-four identical covered petri dishes. then, they opened eighteen petri dishes and applied the three hand sanitizers to six petri dishes each. they left the remaining six petri dishes closed as a control group. when the researchers measured the growth of bacteria two days later, the six dishes that had no hand sanitizer showed the least amount of bacterial growth. the researchers concluded that not using any hand sanitizer would lead to the least bacterial growth.

which statement best explains why the researchers’ conclusion was not justified?
the experiment tested too many variables.
the control group was not treated the same as the experimental group.
the sample size of twenty-four petri dishes is not large enough.
the single type of bacteria is not adequate to make any conclusions.

cells use diffusion to get substances in and out of themselves. that diffusion will occur across the cell membrane or the outer covering of the cell. because we are talking about the surface of the cell, surface area and volume are  important factors here. as a cell increases in size, its surface area and volume increase as well.  we call that the surface area to volume ratio (sa: vol).  but the catch is that  volume increases at a greater rate than surface  area. in other words, as a cell gets bigger, the sa: vol gets smaller. so a really small cell like bacteria is mostly cell membrane (surface) with very little contents (volume). a really big cell like an egg, is mostly insides with a super thin membrane. so what ends up happening is that the cell cannot efficiently diffuse all of the stuff it needs in/out to survive. therefore cell size is limited to about 100mm. so how do we make organisms bigger than 100mm? cells divide! by dividing and becoming multicellular, organisms are able to grow!   check out the diagrams i attached to see the effect of sa: vol. i hope this ! good luck!