Science Fair

February 13, 2006

Fermentation of Yeast
Microbes
What affect does yeast (a microbe) have on sugar?
Purpose:

To determine the effect of sugar on the fermentation of Yeast ; Also

to determine whether temperature has any effect on the
fermentation process.

Hypothesis:

If dry yeast (a microbe) is added to water , then the yeast should

ferment because when dry yeast is added to water it begins to
hydrate giving it the ability to function properly. But this will happen
only if the yeast has some food to help in this process. Sugar acts
as food for the yeast and the process of digestion begins. That
causes the yeast to ferment as a result of the process. Hence only
the cups with the liquid, sugar and yeast ferment because the other
cups either dont have any liquids and/or food.
For the effect of temperature, since the yeast is a living organism,
like us, it needs a temperature that is warm ( neither too cold nor
too hot) so in this experiment of fermentation, the warm water
should work the best

Apparatus (Materials):

Cold, warm and hot tap water

Tape (on which you can write on)
Seven clear plastic cups (any size)
Water proof marker (fine tip)
3 Teaspoons (about 15 mL) of sugar
measuring spoon (1 teaspoon measure)
7 Teaspoons (about 35 mL) of dry yeast
measuring cup ( 1/3 cup measure)
5 Spoons
Timer
Ruler

Fermentation of Yeast Experiment

Harsh Nathani

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February 13, 2006

Fermentation of Yeast

Paper/pencil

Independent Variables:

Amount of yeast/type of yeast, amount of sugar, water/ water

temperature, climate control, time allowed for fermentation,
and human error/bias.

Dependent Variables:

Fermentation of yeast

Procedure:

1. One each of the cups, place a piece of tape that runs from the
top to the bottom of the cup.
2. Create labels for the cups. There should be seven:
a. Yeast + Sugar + Cold Water (1),
b. Yeast + Sugar + Warm Water (2),
c. Yeast + Sugar + Hot Water (3),
d. Yeast + Cold Water (4),
e. Yeast + Warm Water (5),
f. Yeast + Hot Water (6),
g. Yeast only (7).
Place one label beside one cup.
3. In cups 1, 2 and 3 add in 1 teaspoon of sugar.
4. In cups 1 and 4 add in 1/3 cup of cold water, in cups 2 and 5
add in 1/3 cup of warm tap water, and in cups 3 and 6 add in 1/3
cup of hot water. (May need to have an adult help you to pour in
the water)
5. Add the yeast last because the time allowed for fermentation
should be approximately the same.
6. Before adding the yeast have a marker, timer and observation
sheet/pencil (to record the data) ready in order to conduct the
experiment.
7. Finally, add 1 teaspoon of yeast in each cup.
8. Make a mark on the tape to show the level of the ingredients,
label that as 0.

Fermentation of Yeast Experiment

Harsh Nathani

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February 13, 2006

Fermentation of Yeast
9. Start the timer and every five minutes make another mark to
show the changes in the cup. Differentiate them in any way,
which you like.
10. After 45 minutes of testing, clean out the cups.
11. Measure the distance from the bottom of the cup to each one of
the lines in order and record in the observation sheet.
12. Graph the data in a line graph.
Observations:

Observation sheet enclosed

Results:
Qualitative Statements:
o When yeast is added to water and sugar, the yeast ferments.
o The cups with only water didnt ferment.
o The temperature of the water changed the quality of the
fermentation.
o The cups containing yeast + sugar + hot water and yeast +
sugar + cold water didnt ferment as well as the yeast +
sugar + warm water
o The cup containing yeast + sugar + hot water didnt ferment
as well
o There were no fermentation in the three cups containing only
water and yeast and no effect of temperature was observed.
Quantitative Statements:
o When yeast was added to the cups with water and sugar, the
foam went from 43mm to 47mm (cold water), 43mm to
100mm (warm water) and 43mm to 56mm (hot water).
o The cups with yeast and water only stayed constant 43mm
(cold, warm, and water + yeast)
o No activity was observed in the cup with yeast only (3mm)
(yeast only).
o The temperature changed the quality (amount) of
fermentation in the cups containing yeast +sugar, 43mm to
47mm (cold water), 43mm to 100mm (warm water) and
43mm to 56mm (hot water).
Fermentation of Yeast Experiment
Harsh Nathani

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February 13, 2006

Fermentation of Yeast
o There were no fermentation in the three cups containing only
water and yeast and no effect of temperature was observed.
Conclusions:

The yeast in fact does affect the sugar because it is a cause

variable. The hypothesis is also correct because the yeast did
ferment in the cups containing the sugar and did not in the cups
that didnt contain sugar.
The temperature also affected the fermentation because
temperature is also another cause variable. The temperature
changed the amount of fermentation in the cups.
The reason for this is, yeast is a microbe (a micro organism), in
other words a living thing. When the yeast is hydrated it regains it
ability to function properly. One of its functions is to ferment, and in
order to do that it need a source of water or liquid and food. The
water takes the place of the liquid and the sugar takes the place of
the food. And when it receives both it begins to digest the food,
allowing it to ferment. The temperature also affects the fermentation
because any living thing has certain optimum temperature
tolerance limits. For example us human beings, we prefer warm
water to hot or cold. The yeast is an example of this theory. The
yeast ferments best in the warm water because it prefers it the
most.

Applications:

Yeasts have long been utilized to ferment the sugars of rice, wheat,
barley, and corn to produce alcoholic beverages and in the baking
industry to expand, or raise, dough. The yeast's function in baking
is to ferment sugars present in the flour or added to the dough. This
fermentation gives off carbon dioxide which makes the dough rise.
Bakers can use this data to know what kind of yeast and sugar
combinations they should use and at what optimum temperatures
they should be working with.
Scientists can use this data to learn much more ideas about the
applications of the fermentation process that havent yet
discovered.

There are many ways this data can be used, yeast is only one
species of the other single-cell fungi, they would use this data to
discover many other species. They could find treatments for
Fermentation of Yeast Experiment
Harsh Nathani

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Fermentation of Yeast
viruses since they are also single cell organisms
Next Steps:

Future experiments can include to study the effect of varying

amounts of sugar on the yeast fermentation; also different kinds of
sugars can be used to determine which sugar is most favorable
for maximum fermentation.

Acknowledgements: I would like to thank my Mom and Dad for supporting me

through out this project, especially my Mom for answering
many of my questions and helping me with the experiment ( she is
a Microbiologist!!). My dad helped me to get the materials and
organize the timeline for how I should work.
I would like to thank my older brother for letting me use his
computer and giving me tips on how to make my project
presentation more effective.
I would like to thank Mr. Wilson for answering all my questions on
the whole project and also giving me directions on completing this
project.
I would like to thank my teacher Mrs. Joyce (my teacher from grade
6 at from The Valleys Sr. Public School, Mississauga, Ontario,
Canada for teaching me some of the basics of microbes .
I would like to thank Aaron for answering some of my questions as
well.

Fermentation of Yeast Experiment

Harsh Nathani

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