BIOLOGY PRACTICAL REPORTS FOR FORM 4

Experiment 8.11 (practical textbook page 119)

Problem statement: What is the effect of temperature on the activity of yeast?
Objective : To study the effects of temperature on the activity of yeast.
Hypothesis: The activity of yeast is optimal at 37oC.
Variables: manipulated variable: temperature
responding variable: height of the coloured liquid in the manometer
constant variable:
volume of yeast suspension / pH /light intensity / time taken
Apparatus: boiling tubes, beakers, glass tubes, clips, rubber stoppers, rubber tubing, retort
stands, manometer tubes, strings, measuring cylinders, stopwatches, thermometers
Materials: yeast suspension (4g of yeast in 100 cm3 of glucose solution), coloured liquid, ice
cubes
Technique: record the level of coloured liquid in the manometer after 10 minutes.

Apparatus set-up to study the effect of temperaure on the activity of yeast

Procedure:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

Five boiling tubes A, B, C, D and E are labelled.

All the boiling tubes are filled with 15 cm3 of yeast suspension.
Five sets of the apparatus are set up.
Boiling tube A is placed in a beaker of ice.The temperature is recoded after five minutes.
The stopwatch is started and the level of coloured liquid in the manometer after 10 minutes
is recorded.
Step 4 is repeated by placing the boiling tubes , B, C, D and E in water baths at temperatures
of 20oC, 30oC, 40oC and 50oC.
The results are recorded in a table of results.
A graph of the heights of the coloured liquid in the manometer against the temperatures is
plotted.
Safety precaution: The glucose solution has to be boiled to get rid of dissolved oxygen so
that the yeast can respire anaerobically and produce ethanol and carbon dioxide.

Results:
Test tube
A
B
C
D
E

Temperature/ oC Height of the coloured

liquid in the manometer/cm
0
-0.4
20
2.6
30
4.0
40
4.1
50
2.5

Discussion:
1. What do you observe in each boiling tube?
In each boiling tube, the activity of yeast is shown by the foaming of the contents in the tube
as well as the increased height of the coloured liquid.
2. Give a reason for the observation in each boiling tube.
As the yeast respires, the carbon dioxide that is released causes the pressure in the boiling
tube to rise and subsequently pushes the coloured liquid up the manometer.
3. What safety precautions do you need to take when conducting this experiment?
The glucose solution has to be boiled to get rid of dissolved oxygen so that the yeast can
respire anaerobically and produce ethanol and carbon dioxide.
4. What is the optimum temperature for the activity of yeast? Give a reason.
35 oC is the optimum temperature for the activity of yeast as the height of coloured liquid in
the manometer is the highest, that is, 4.2 cm.
Conclusion:
Hypothesis is accepted.
The activity of yeast is optimal at 37oC.