In 1928, sir alexander fleming was studying staphylococcus bacteria growing in culture dishes. he noticed that a mold called penicillium was also growing in some of the dishes. a clear area existed around the mold because all the bacteria that had grown in this area had died. in the culture dishes without the mold, no clear areas were present. write an "if/then" hypothesis for this observation.

The correct answer is - if mold present then it produces some chemical that kills the bacteria.

Explanation:

A hypothesis is an assumption or a guess based evidence already existed for explanation or arguing so that it can be tested.

Sir Alexander Fleming found that the bacteria around penicillium mold are dead whereas the culture dishes with no mold have no clear area of dead bacteria.

On the basis of the following evidence, one can hypothesize that If penicillium mold produce then it produces some chemical that kills the bacteria.

Thus, the correct answer is - if mold present then it produces some chemical that kills the bacteria.