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What Goes Up. . .

Blowing Up a Balloon with Yeast

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Purpose

The purpose of the experiment is to determine what temperature of water will help yeast and sugar create the most gas to blow up a balloon when using cold, room temperature and hot water?

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Hypothesis & Support

If I fill three soda bottles with three different temperatures of water, by including cold, room temperature and hot water, then the balloon will blow up fastest using room temperature water because the yeast and sugar can mix together quickly without any effect from cold or hot temperatures.

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The Experiment

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Materials

  • 3 Clear Plastic Soda Bottles (16 oz.)
  • 3 Packets of Yeast (¼ oz.)
  • 3 Teaspoons of Sugar (White)
  • 3 Balloons (Medium Round)
  • Cold Water (4 oz.)
  • Thermometer
  • Room Temperature Water (4 oz.)
  • Hot Water (4 oz.)
  • Measuring Cup
  • Measuring Spoon (1 tsp.)
  • Small Kitchen Funnel
  • Timer

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Procedure

  • Fill one bottle up with 4 ounces of cold water.

  • Add one yeast packet (¼) and gently swirl the bottle for a few seconds.

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  • Add 1 teaspoon of sugar and swirl once more.

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Procedure

  • Blow up the medium balloon a few times to stretch it out then place the neck of the balloon over the neck of the bottle.

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  • Let the bottle sit for about 20 minutes. If all goes well the balloon will begin to inflate!

* Repeat steps 1 - 5, twice more using room temperature and hot water

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Blowing Up a Balloon with Yeast Experiment - Data Table

Variable: Water Temperature

Trial (#)

Cold

(36 F - 42 F)

Room Temperature

(72 F - 76 F)

Hot

(155 F - 175 F)

1

51 mins.

28 mins.

37 mins.

2

36 mins.

26 mins.

29 mins.

3

42 mins.

31 mins.

34 mins.

Average Time

(measured in mins.)

43 mins.

28 mins.

33 mins.

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Blowing Up a Balloon with Yeast Experiment - Bar Graph

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Conclusion

In conclusion, my hypothesis was correct. I observed that the room temperature water blew up the balloon fastest, during each of the three trials versus hot and room temperature water, because room temperature water allowed the yeast and sugar to mix and become active to release more energy/gas in the form of carbon dioxide. When the yeast spreads, the energy is transformed into gas bubbles that force the balloon to inflate (potential energy). The energy formed by yeast feeding on sugar produces carbon dioxide gas and creates a process known as fermentation.

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Real World Connection

The real world connection for this project is to observe what happens to the body of an elementary student during a birthday party with pizza, juices and sugary snacks . For this project the water serves as the child’s (bottle) stomach acids, by changing the water temperature (stomach acids) from cold, room temperature to hot, the child’s energy will increased as more energy (gas/carbon dioxide) is released from the pizza (yeast), juice , ice cream, candy and other snacks (sugar) eaten during the party. Energy is released as stomach acids break down the yeast and sugar. As more pizza and sweets are digested, a child becomes more hyper (inflated balloon) and gets a burst of energy.