• Question: That sounds really interesting but around how big would the microbes be?

    Asked by sarah07 to Chloe on 29 Apr 2020.
    • Photo: Chloe Matthews

      Chloe Matthews answered on 29 Apr 2020:

      Microbes come in lots of different shapes and sizes. We would have to use special dyes and a microscope to see them. We measure them in micrometers or microns. To get an idea of what that looks like 1 millimeter is equal to 1,000 microns and there’s about 25,000 microns in 1 inch! Most bacteria are about 1 to 5 microns in size. We can look at size in lots of different ways, this is just one way. Another way, is genome size. That’s using DNA. Microbes come in lots of very different sizes if you use that method. I hope this answers your question! Let me know if you would like to find out more.

Comments

  • Photo: sarah07

    sarah07 commented on :

    Thank you again!

  • Photo: Achim

    Achim commented on :

    Classic rule: If it is too small to be seen with the naked eye it is a microbe (provided it is a living organism). So why are fungi microbes? The answer is that you can’t see them with the naked eye part of their life cycle. If you have moldy bread, all what you see are the spores, so don’t eat it or you will eat the fungus with it. Some of the fungi produce toxins that make you sick.