You are a research scientist studying bioluminescent bacteria (bacteria that can glow). you grow several plates of bacteria and give them a special chemical that you hypothesize will increase their luminescence, or brightness. you turn off the lights and use a device called a photometer to measure the light levels (in lumens) coming from each plate. you collect the following data:
plate 1: 7 lumens, 6 lumens, 13 lumens
plate 2: 4 lumens, 5 lumens, 7 lumens
plate 3: 3 lumens, 6 lumens, 7 lumens
plate 4: 5 lumens, 5 lumens, 8 lumens
which of the following pieces of data is likely an outlier

Data of plate 1 is an outlier

Explanation:

An outlier value is the one which has maximum distance from the mean observed value.

In plate 2,3 and 4 the maximum differences between the observed values of  luminescence is 3, 4 and 3 lumen respectively. Thus, plate 2,3 and 4 are not outlier.

While in plate 1, the the maximum differences between the observed values of  luminescence is 7, thus plate 1 shows data that is an outlier.

"griffith's experiment discovering the "transforming principle" in pneumococcus bacteria. griffith's experiment, reported in 1928 by frederick griffith, was the first experiment suggesting that bacteria are capable of transferring genetic information through a process known as transformation." - griffith's experiment.

not sure what it is