Which statement explains the difference between hand washing and hand sanitizer most accurately?

• A. Hand washing kills germs but leaves dirt; sanitizer removes dirt.
• B. Hand sanitizer only kills germs; it does not actually remove the dirt. Hand washing does both.
• C. Hand washing is faster than sanitizer.
• D. Hand sanitizer cleans dirt better than soap.

Answer: (B)

The main idea is understanding what each method does: soap and water physically cleans by loosening and washing away dirt and germs, while alcohol-based hand sanitizer primarily inactivates germs on contact but doesn’t remove dirt or grime. This makes the statement that hand sanitizer kills germs but doesn’t remove dirt, whereas hand washing does both, the most accurate. When hands are visibly dirty or greasy, washing is preferred because it actually removes the grime; sanitizer is convenient when soap and water aren’t available, but it won’t truly clean dirt off the skin. The other points either overstate sanitizer’s ability to remove dirt or wrongly claim that sanitizer cleans dirt better or faster than soap and water.