Anaerobic Cellular Respiration Lab (Yeast)

Introduction

Cellular respiration is a series of metabolic processes that take place within the cell in which
biochemical energy is harvested from organic substances and stored as energy (ATP) for use in
energy- requiring activities in the cell. Cellular respiration can be divided into two major
categories; aerobic and anaerobic. Aerobic respiration uses oxygen while anaerobic performs the
process of respiration without the presence of oxygen. It is important, when doing this lab to
keep in mind the equation for cellular respiration: C6H12O6 + O2 → CO2 + H2O + ATP

In this lab you will be focusing on the study of anaerobic respiration by measuring the amount of
carbon dioxide released. In order to do this you will be using yeast as well as other sugar sources
to represent the glucose shown in the equation above. It is up to you to analyze the difference
between sugar sources and the quantity of products produced.

Write a hypothesis for this experiment if you were to use the following substances as sugar
sources (sugar, vinegar, cornstarch)

Materials

□ 32g of Yeast
□ 20g of Flour
□ 4g of Sugar
□ 4g of Corn Starch
□ 4g of vinegar
□ 4 250mL beakers
□ 4 stirring rods
□ Measuring cups
□ Scale
□ Plastic wrap
□ 5 Plastic spoons
□ Timer
□ Graduated cylinder
□ 12 plastic cups
□ Ruler
 □ marker

Procedures

1. Collect 4 beakers and label them 1-3 for each of the sugar substances and the last beaker
C for your control
2. Using the graduated cylinder, measure 40mL of warm water and deposit that in each
beaker
3. Separate 8g of yeast in the plastic cups making sure to zero out the cup each time.
4. Add 8g of yeast to each beaker, stirring for 5 minutes to activate the yeast.
5. Using your scale and 4 more plastic cups measure out 5g of flour and add that to each of
your beakers.
6. Next, measure out 4g of each of your sugar substances (sugar, vinegar, cornstarch)
adding sugar to the beaker you labeled 1, vinegar to beaker 2, and lastly cornstarch to
beaker number 3.
7. Stir the flour and your sugar substances into each of the beakers for 2 minutes (stir longer
if necessary)
8. At this point you should check up on the consistency of the solutions in each of your
beakers. The solution should not be liquidy like water, if this is the case add 1g more of
yeast to each beaker stirring for 3 more minutes.
9. After your solution has been thoroughly stirred use a marker to mark your starting
distance and cover the beaker with plastic wrap
10. Every 5 minutes draw a new line on the beaker with a marker for 30 minutes.
11. Once finished, use the ruler to measure the distance between the lines in cm and place the
data in the table provided below.

Data
 Control (flour) Sugar Vinegar Corn Starch
(Beaker 1) (Beaker 2) (Beaker 3)

5 minutes

10 minutes

15 minutes

20 minutes

25 minutes

30 minutes

Analysis

1. In which beaker did the yeast grow the greatest?

2. Why do you think some substances raised more than others?
3. Was your hypothesis correct? Explain

Part Two

Supply your data using the same data table in the earlier part of the lab.

Control (flour) Sugar Vinegar Corn Starch

5 minutes 0 cm. 0 cm. 0 cm. 0 cm.

10 minutes 0 cm. 0 cm. 0 cm. 0 cm.

15 minutes 0 cm. 0 cm. 0 cm. 0 cm.

20 minutes .5 cm. 1 cm. 0 cm. 0 cm.

25 minutes .5 cm. 1 cm. 0 cm. 0 cm.

 30 minutes .5 cm. 1 cm. 0 cm. 0 cm.

Data Analysis
This experiment was conducted two times, the first graph representing the first attempt,
and the second graph representing the second attempt. Both graphs are written in five
minute increments, and all beakers were measured and observed evenly. Within the first
graph, it is easy to see that there was little to no rise in the yeast, for most of the numbers
are fixated on 0-1cm. However, when just testing the control and the sugar together, both
of the subjects rose due to the perfect combination of substance versus. This is how the
beakers containing fair and equal amounts of water, sugar, flour, yeast, etc. in order to
work properly.

Summary paragraph
This experiment was conducted two times, the first graph representing the first
attempt, and the second graph representing the second attempt. The materials, and
measurements in which this experiment concluded is 80 mL of water, 4 grams of yeast in
each container, 2 grams of every substance (sugar, vinegar and cornstarch) and 2 grams of
flour. However, the water to substance ratio was far from equivalent. When mixed, these
substances were very liquidy, and did not have much thickness to them at all. As we
observed, there was bubbling along the surface of the control group and the group
containing sugar. To resolve the problem, there was a reduction in the amount of water
used, and the dosages of flour, sugar, etc. began to become more common.
When conducting the second experiment, we only made a single control group and
a single experimental group. The control group would consist of 40 mL of warm water, 8
grams of yeast and 4 grams of flour. The experimental group consisted of 40 mL of warm
water, 8 grams of yeast and 4 flour. This time around, the consistency was much thicker
and seemed more “edible.” Since the second experiment worked significantly well, we
recorded the results after observing. The substances were measured in 5 minutes
increments, and after 30 minutes, the dough in both the experimental and control.
Yeast typically works well when paired with vinegar, however, it did not seem to
rise very well in this experiment, and was not the prime substitution for flour. However,
sugar can’t / extract much more energy when oxygen is present within the atmosphere.
Between the first and second part of this worksheet, we can see an extravagant difference
in the rising of the yeast. Both experiments were conducted under the same temperature,
and in the same geography/ climate/ weather. Despite outside influences, it is believed that
each substance was proportioned inaccurately, which is why the yeast had not risen the in
the first attempt.