Fermentation of glucose using yeast | 14–16 years

The alcohol (ethanol) in beer and wine is produced by the fermentation of glucose by yeast. In this experiment, learners will set up a glucose solution to ferment. They will observe the reaction and test the products. As a follow-up activity, you can demonstrate distillation of the fermentation mixture or set this as a learner activity.

Use the set of follow-up questions, with answers provided, to test learners’ understanding of the conditions needed for a fermentation reaction, rates of reaction and method writing.

Suitable for learners following GCSE and equivalent level courses. Post-16 learners will find this a helpful introduction or recap to the topic.