17.09.

2014 1
Irena Sionek 2IB

DIFUSSION IN AGAR CUBES LAB

REPORT
Research question
What is the effect of temperature change on
yeast fermentation?
Background
The rates of chemical reactions may affect by
temperature. The purpose of this experiment
was to test the effect of different temperatures
on the rate of carbon dioxide production in
yeast by measuring the fermentation rate.
Yeast is good for this experiment because of its
characteristic of alcohol fermentation.
Yeast fermentation:
C6H12O6---- 2CH3CH2OH + 2CO2 (+2ATP)
Hypothesis
If
temperature
has
effect
on
yeast
fermentation, the higher it is, the more CO2
produce will be produced. However, at some
point the temperature can be too high and
destroy yeast cells, causing gradually less
carbon dioxide production.
Variables:
dependent:

independent:

the temperature, 20,

30, 40, 50, degrees
Celsius
the
rate
of
CO2
production

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Irena Sionek 2IB

controlled:

amount of yeast
type and quantity of
sugar which we add to
help
yeast
ferment
quickly:1
spoon,
common sugar
amount of water
Time
we
start
measuring
Volume of the solution
5cm height in each
test tube
The
method
of
measuring the height
of CO2 bubbles.

Controlling the variables

Type of solution

The solution temperature

Time we start measuring

The method of measuring
the length of cube edges

Apparatus and materials

We put 1 spoon of sugar

into 3 spoons of yeast and
then add 3ml water.
We measure it with a
thermometer and control
it with achieve hot water
from the lab office as soon
as possible. The same
amount of water in each
beaker is also controlled.
We measure this with a
timer ( 0.5 s)
We use the same ruler for
all

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Irena Sionek 2IB

Yeast
Sugar
Ruler
Beaker
thermometer

Timer
Spoon
Test tube
water

Method
This is for one of the temperature.
1)
Add 3 spoons of yeast into test tube.
2)
Then add 1 spoon of sugar.
3)
Then add 3ml water
4)
Put the tube into the beaker with 20
degrees water.
5)
Immediately turn on the timer.
6)
Leave the tube in the solution for 1
minute.
7)
After the 1 minute had passed, take
out the tube and measure the height of
CO2 bubbles.
8)
Take notes.
Safety
Too much CO2 may lead the popping of the tube
plug. The tube shouldn't point to people.

Collecting data
I will use this table to record the collected data:
Temperature/
20

Height
of
bubbles/cm
2

30

40

10

50

12

CO2

Correlation between temperature and CO2 production in each

of the test tube

Conclusion
Research on this subject has indicated that with
higher temperatures in comparison to room
temperature will cause yeast to produce more
carbon dioxide. When the temperature becomes
higher, the rate is increasing gradually slower.

Evaluation
We didnt do enough experiment, so we cannot find
the point which the CO2 production starts
reducing. That was a pity. There are also some
inaccurate actions in our experiment which may
cause some errors in the results. Another fault is
that we should have used glucose which is more
effective instead of sugar to accelerate the
reaction. A good idea to extent the experiment is
to examine more different temperatures. This will
give us an estimated turning point of CO2
production. It is important to understand the
fermentation rate of yeast so as to accurately
determine temperature to achieve the desired
effect.