Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

What chemical in sugar does yeast get it's energy from ??

Hi,

Yeast eats sugars, one example of which is glucose. Here are some resources talking about it further:

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?tit ... d=65628541

https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... p011.shtml

https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... p010.shtml

http://biology.clc.uc.edu/courses/bio104/cellresp.htm

Best regards,

Barrett L Tomlinson

Darin,

I agree with Barrett. Yeast are almost like humans in the respect that in the presence of oxygen, they break down sugar molecules to create energy. Without getting too complicated, it is the process of breaking down the sugar and releasing energy from its intramolecular bonds that creates the energy. It is not coming from a specific compound within the sugar. Without oxygen, yeast can still metabolize sugar, but the byproducts are water and ethanol instead of water and carbon dioxide. This process is called fermentation and is used to make beer, alcohol, etc.

Please check out Barrett's links as they are very helpful. Here are some other sites you can look at:

http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/m ... e00195.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cellular_respiration

Hope this helps,

Manjinder

You guys ROCK ! Thank you !!!
Hannah

or should I say , "Sweet" !