Question

how many carbons remaining after the citric acid cycle?

Answer 1

all the carbons go into carbon dioxide! Pyruvate (3-carbon) is fully oxidized.

Answer 2

well i know that one cycle of the citric acid cycle produces 2 molecules of CO2... so does that mean that there are 2 carbons remaining?

Answer 3

the pyruvate has to be converted to acetyl-CoA (2-carbon) before the citric acid cycle, so one CO2 is lost then as well

Answer 4

so glucose (6C) --> 2 pyruvate (3C) --> 2 CO2 + 2A-CoA (2C) --> 6 CO2

Answer 5

hope that helps!

Answer 6

thanks!