Cellular Respiration Lab Report

Cellular respiration is an important three-step process that supplies organisms with energy in the form of ATP using glucose and oxygen. Cellular respiration first takes place in the cytoplasm with glycolysis, secondly in the matrix with the Krebs Cycle, and lastly along the mitochondrion inner membrane with the electron transport chain (Miller and Levine 2014). The summary of cellular respiration is as followed:

C6H1206 + 6 O2  6 CO2 + 6 H2O + (up to) 38 ATP

(Doherty and Waldron 2009). Organisms require ATP for energy, but the process of cellular respiration requires oxygen, meaning that it is an aerobic process. To receive ATP when oxygen is not available, the organisms must go through the process of fermentation, an anaerobic process.

The tube with the 0% label was filled with 7.5mL of distilled water with a pipette. The test tube with the 1% label was given 7.5mL of a 1% sucrose solution. The same was done with the test tube with the 5% label; but it was given a 5% sucrose solution. Lastly, the test tube with the 10% label was given 7.5mL of a 10% sucrose solution. These test tubes were each given 0.75 grams of yeast and a balloon was quickly placed over the top of the test tube. The test tube was shaken, being made sure that none of the liquid-yeast mixture splattered into the balloon, and then placed into a beaker of warm water. The water was heated up to approximately 75 degrees

One way that we measured the rate of fermentation was through carbon dioxide bubbles formed at the top of the sucrose-yeast solutions. The 0% sucrose solution was a control to measure the rate of fermentation without added sugars. We measured from 0 to 12 minutes, and the 0% sucrose solution’s carbon dioxide bubbles ranged from 0-4mm in depth. For the 1% sucrose solution, the depth of carbon dioxide bubbles ranged from 0-50mm. The 5% sucrose solution’s depth of carbon dioxide bubbles only from ranged from 0-40mm, but the total average depth was higher than the 1% sucrose solution. Lastly, the 10% sucrose solution’s depth of carbon dioxide bubbles ranged from 0-65mm. Another way that we measured the rate of fermentation was through the circumference of the balloon, as an indicator for the carbon dioxide released. The 0% sucrose solution’s range of circumference was 0-61mm. The 1% sucrose solution’s circumference ranged from 0-76mm. The 5% sucrose solution’s circumference ranged from 0-94mm. Lastly, the circumference of the 10% sucrose solution stayed at 0-95mm, but the last measurement could not be made because the balloon had popped off the test