Yeast Cellular Respiration Lab Report

Cellular respiration is defined as a sequence of metabolic processes by which living cells produce energy. Biochemical energy from nutrients are converted into adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is essential for the energy of life. ATP transports chemical energy within cells for metabolism. Most cellular functions – synthesis of proteins and membranes, cellular division, etc. – need energy to be carried out. The reactions and steps that occur during cellular respiration include glycolysis, the Krebs Cycle and the Electron Transport Chain. Cellular respiration is a metabolic process which occurs in all living cells. There are two types of cellular respiration; aerobic and anaerobic. Aerobic respiration is more efficient and is utilised in the presence of oxygen, whereas anaerobic respiration does not require oxygen. Yeast is a single celled fungus and must produce its own energy to survive using either aerobic or anaerobic respiration. Sugars, which are carbohydrates, are used in the cellular respiration process in yeast, which can either be monosaccharides

The disaccharides were: maltose and sucrose. The monosaccharides: glucose, fructose and lactose. In the experiment, the amount of CO2 produced was recorded by a gas sensor over a period of fifteen minutes in a Nalgene bottle of 3mL yeast solution and 3mL of sugar solution. It was predicted that the disaccharide sugars would produce a higher rate of cellular respiration, however, this hypothesis was proven wrong during the experiment. The data revealed that glucose was the sugar that produced the largest amount of CO2 (236 ppm/min). It had 28.5ppm/min more than the second most efficient sugar fructose (208.3ppm/min), which is also a monosaccharide. The products of one molecule of glucose in glycolysis include six molecules of carbon, six molecules of water and energy molecules called ATP and NADP (Source