Five-Second Rule

Overview

The five second rule project was to see if bacteria or fungus went on food when it falls on the ground for a certain amount of time. People would say if food falls on the ground, in five seconds bacteria wouldn't get on it. The hypothesis is that bacteria or fungus contaminates the food right when it touches the ground and it does not matter how long it is there on the ground. There is a difference between indoor and outdoor environments because outdoor areas are more dirty. Different foods contaminate differently (moist versus dry food) because moist foods are more sticky and will take up more than dry foods. In the experiment the test is dropping bread on different surfaces for different times. It also tested two different foods, turkey and bread on the same surface. Time will include 1 second, 5 seconds, and 1 minute. Surfaces include indoor wood, indoor carpet, outdoor asphalt, and outdoor dirt. To make sure of no contamination of the experiment there will be sterile gloves and sterile q tips to transfer the bacteria onto the petri dishes which were incubated at 80 degrees Fahrenheit. The results support that the five second rule is not valid and that time is not a factor to prevent contamination. Surface type was a bigger factor with the most growth on outdoor asphalt. Also moist turkey developed big contamination more than dry bread. In conclusion, bacterial or fungal contamination occurs instantly under the right circumstances.

Five-Second Rule

Overview

Competition history

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