I.

Title: Effect of Temperature on the Fermentation Rate of Yeast

II. Research Question: What effect does temperature have on the fermentation rate of yeast?

III.Hypothesis & Explanation:

If yeast is activated and placed in an environment where the temperature is greater than 40ºC,

then the amount of time it takes for carbon dioxide (CO₂) to be released will be shorter than the

amount of time required for yeast that is in the ideal temperature range for fermentation

(20-38°C). Likewise, if the yeast is placed in an environment where the temperature is less than

20°C, then the amount of time it takes for CO₂ to be released will be longer than the amount of

time required for yeast in the ideal temperature range for fermentation.

IV. Variables:

Independent Variable: temperature of the yeast’s environment (a beaker of water heated to a

certain temperature) in 5 separate conditions (10°C, 30°C, 40°C, 60°C, and 70°C)

Dependent Variable: release of carbon dioxide (CO₂) in parts per million (ppm)

Control Variables: using the same testing environment (a 250 mL Nalgene bottle inside a 600

mL water bath) and using the same amount of yeast suspension and sucrose solution for each

trial

V. Materials & Procedure:

Materials: Bunsen burner, clamp stand, clamp, gauze, two 200mL beakers, two 400mL beakers,

one 800mL beaker, 7g active dry yeast, 5g table sugar, pipettes, scale, thermometer, Vernier™

LabPro interface, Vernier™ CO₂ sensor, 250mL Nalgene bottle, Vernier™ LoggerPro software,

laptop, various amounts of water

Procedure:
1.Setup LabPro interface and CO₂ sensor with laptop. Make sure the LoggerPro software is

installed.

2. Weigh a 200mL beaker on the scale

3. Set the number on the scale to 7g more than the beaker weighs

4. Add enough yeast to balance the scale

5. Add the yeast to a 400mL beaker that contains 100mL of water

6. Stir the yeast until it is well suspended in the water

7. Weigh the other 200mL beaker on the scale

8. Set the number on the scale to 5g more than the beaker weighs

9. Add enough table sugar to balance the scale

10. Add the sugar to the other 400mL beaker with 100mL water

11. Stir the sugar until it is dissolved completely

12. Fill an 800mL beaker with 600mL of water

13. Heat the beaker over the Bunsen burner until it reaches 10°C
14. Put 4mL each of the sugar solution and yeast suspension into the Nalgene bottle

15. Insert the CO₂ sensor into the bottle and place in water bath

16. Start recording data with the LoggerPro software on the laptop
17. When the amount of carbon dioxide stops fluctuating greatly, remove the bottle from the

water bath, rinse it, and repeat steps 14-16 four more times.

18. After completing the fifth trial, heat up the water bath to 30°C, and repeat steps 14-16 five

times

19. Repeat with the water bath at 40°C, 60°C, and 70°C
VI. Raw Data
*I picked one graph from each trial set that had the most average data of its set.

VII. Data Processing & Presentation

THE EFFECT OF TEMPERATURE ON RATES OF YEAST FERMENTATION

1000

800
750

600

500 500
Time (s)

400 400
325
275
250 250
225
200 200

100
50
0 0 0 0 0

-250
500 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000
CO₂ emissions (ppm)

10°C 30°C 40°C 60°C 70°C

This graph shows the carbon dioxide emissions from each trial over time. The error bars were

calculated with Numbers ’09, using the standard error option in the inspector.

The data plotted on this graph does not show a pattern between every temperature, but it can be

seen that the amount of time it took to reach the maximum release amount of carbon dioxide is

the most spread out between 30 and 40ºC. At 30 and 40ºC, the carbon dioxide emissions were
right around 1000 ppm. They steadily got higher and higher, until they stopped at around 4990

ppm. At 60ºC, the carbon dioxide that was initially released was already at 2000 ppm, and it took

about 275 seconds to reach the 4990-5000 mark. At 70ºC, as soon as the data started recording,

the amount of carbon dioxide released was almost 5000 ppm. The pieces of data that do not

follow this pattern belong to the 10ºC group. Without the 10ºC line on the graph, it could be

inferred that the amount of carbon dioxide released at first would be below 1000 ppm, and it

would take more than 800 seconds to reach the 5000 ppm mark. However, the green 10ºC line

starts at 3000 ppm, and it reaches 5000 ppm at 600 seconds. Since the other four pieces of data

go against this pattern, it is possible to infer that the further away from the ideal temperature

range of 20-40ºC the environment is, the faster it ferments.

Another noticeable pattern would be that all of the yeasts in each temperature group reached

approximately 5000 ppm of carbon dioxide released and then the levels of carbon dioxide

stopped fluctuating. I was unable to conclude whether or not this was due to the yeast reaching

the end of fermentation or because the sensor was unable to detect carbon dioxide levels above

5000 ppm.

VIII. Conclusions & Evaluation:

Looking at the data presented here, there is no easily recognizable pattern. All of the carbon

dioxide released by the 25 yeast and sugar solutions did increase in number, and the carbon

dioxide levels stopped increasing or decreasing at around the same number for all of the groups.

The time it took to reach that constant number varied with each temperature group, so it is safe to

infer that the effect of temperature on the rate of yeast fermentation is the amount of time taken

to end fermentation. By having the yeast in an environment cooler than the ideal fermentation
temperature range, the time taken to ferment was much shorter. This could mean that the yeast

releases too much carbon dioxide too fast, and that could alter reactions that occur when yeast is

being used in areas such as cooking, baking, biochemistry, and alcohol production. When the

yeast was in an environment that was warmer than the ideal temperature range, the amount of

time it took to ferment was also shorter. It could possibly affect the aforementioned fields in

which yeast is used. The yeasts that were inside of the ideal temperature range, however, released

a very steady and consistent amount of carbon dioxide that gently rose over time. This can prove

the idea that the ideal temperature for yeast to ferment in is between 20 and 40ºC.

There are several steps that could have been taken to further improve the accuracy and

legitimacy of the experiment process. I have read that it is better to use distilled water as opposed

to tap, because impurities in the water can alter the carbon dioxide levels. Also, being more

knowledgeable with the software and hardware (LoggerPro, LabPro and the CO2 sensor) could

make the process more precise, instead of pausing to figure out the equipment along the way. I

could have also used perhaps a stronger or more sophisticated sensor, and possibly eliminated the

question of 5000 ppm being the highest that my sensor could measure.