Why can't we kill bacteria by squashing them?

Question

The weight of a person squishes ants, midges, plants and the minutest of living structures. So why don't bacteria squish? What makes their structure sooooo invincible?????

Answer 1

Realmente no lo sé.

Pero tal vez tenga relación con la explicación de por qué, si la mayor parte de un atomo es vacío, y la materia está formada por atomos, entonces la materia ocupa espacio?

Saludos.

Answer 2

Ants, midge(t)s, and plants can be squished because they are composed of multiple cells that cannot survive without being attached to each other.  Bacteria, on the other hand, are more difficult to squish because they are composed of individual cells which are completely self-sufficient.  If you were able to crush a bacterium using your fingers, for example, then you would also be able to crush the cells in your fingers, turning them into mush.  This is not to say that bacteria are invincible to crushing or other damage caused by direct contact - if you were to place a bacterium between two very smooth metal plates and then either press them together with great force or slide them across each other, then it could, in theory, break the bacterium open.  

Answer 3

I think that if it were possible to precisely locate a bacteria between two hard objects, then it could of course be crushed.  Steel is certainly tougher than a bacteria.  But they are so small that they are pushed aside into the crevices of most things that we might use to crush them.  

If you have ever seen highly magnified photos of common objects, you will see that most things, even those that appear smooth, actually have many hills and valleys in them.  I think that bacteria could be pushed into those valleys.  It is just difficult to relate to this because there is little on our scale of life that is like this.

As an example, suppose you tried to squash an ant under a piece of corduroy, for instance.  He would most likely hide between the grooves.  I don't think we can say that bacteria would actively move as quickly as an ant, but they would get pushed aside.

Answer 4

the bacterica are just to small and we cant see them so we see them through microscopes  

Answer 5

Technically you can crush them. In practical terms it's difficult because of their size and the surface of whatever you are using to crush them. Even what appears to be a perfectly smooth surface to the naked eye is often rough and filled with groves under magnification. Most bacteria get pushed into these groves and escape crushing. If you try to crush them with your fingers they escape into groves in the skin. Try stepping on them and they escape in the many groves / imperfections in your shoes.

I have crushed many while looking down the microscope. If you are not careful and over focus your lenscan push on the slide cover, which will crush your bacteria.