Bubbles in Your Bread

Introduction

Baking bread is something many people all over the world do every day. Have you ever baked bread using yeast? Did you know that yeast are living organisms? In a water environment, yeast use sugar and oxygen to produce a gas called carbon dioxide, CO₂. The carbon dioxide makes the dough rise and creates the bubbles or air pockets that you can see in the bread that you eat.

Objectives

In this activity, you will

• Use a Pressure Sensor to measure the pressure caused by the production of CO₂.
• Make observations about how temperature affects rising dough.

Sensors and Equipment

This experiment features the following Vernier sensors and equipment.

Option 1

Option 2

Additional Requirements

You may also need an interface and software for data collection. What do I need for data collection?