Lab Report On Yeast Fermentation

In this lab, the class tested the effect of temperature on the rate of fermentation in yeast by measuring the height of CO2 produced in a graduated cylinder at varying degrees Celsius. Yeast can perform cellular respiration and fermentation, the first needing oxygen (aerobic) and the second not (anaerobic). Cellular respiration is the normal way human bodies’ make energy, but when lacking oxygen, cells undergo fermentation, which creates less energy than respiration, CO2, and lactic acid (though in yeast, ethel alcohol is made instead of lactic acid). This experiment tells the class about the affects of temperature on fermentation, basically whether or not hotter temperatures cause it to occur quicker. The class specifically tested the quantity of CO2 of
What the class found was that as time passed, the amount of CO2 always rose, with the graduated cylinders containing 30-40 degree Celsius water performing the best. The 20 degree graduated cylinder performed the worst, while the 50 and 60 degree graduated cylinders performed averagely. These findings allow the class to conclude that yeast successfully undergoes fermentation, and the temperature at which it works the quickest is around thirty and forty degrees, while when yeast is in twenty, fifty, and sixty degrees it works less efficiently because the molecules aren’t moving fast enough, or enzymes helping in the process become denatured at the heat. The students felt that human error did not play a large part in the experiment, as their findings (for the most part) scientifically were provable and worked. However, the class could have mis-measured the amount of each substance needed for the solution, allowed oxygen to enter the reaction and stopping the fermentation process, incorrectly cleaned graduated cylinders so substances were mixed, or misread the rise of CO2