system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5 Why does alcohol work as a sterilizing agent?
gpt
Alcohol breaks down a cell's wall, and the cell falls apart. Imagine a liquid that when poured over a balloon just destroyed the rubber part of the balloon. Then all the water and such pours out and the cell is thus killed, and this works on nearly all cells (not 100%, but roughly 99%).