I have another "essay" question.

 

You received water from a local lake to determine the bacterial cell count, you did the count using both direct microscopic count and the plate count methods. Which methods would likely give you a higher bacterial count? Why?

 

I thought at first it was the direct microscopic count because it counts both dead and live cells. Then I started thinking it was the late count method because of the way the cells/colonies are counted. Now I'm just not sure. Any help would be appreciated.

What exactly does each method mean and how do they work?

Isn't quantity of bacteria in cultures expressed as number of "colony-forming units" (CFU)?

 

Who knows/cares how many bacteria in one CFU?