The Free Energy for the Oxidation of Glucose to CO₂

Multiple Choice

The free energy for the oxidation of glucose to CO₂ and water is -686 kcal/mol and the free energy for the reduction of NAD⁺ to NADH is +53 kcal/mol. Why are only two molecules of NADH formed during glycolysis when it appears that as many as a dozen could be formed?

A) Most of the free energy available from the oxidation of glucose is used in the production of ATP in glycolysis.
B) Glycolysis is a very inefficient reaction, with much of the energy of glucose released as heat.
C) Most of the free energy available from the oxidation of glucose remains in pyruvate, one of the products of glycolysis.
D) There is no CO₂ or water produced as products of glycolysis.
E) Glycolysis consists of many enzymatic reactions, each of which extracts some energy from the glucose molecule.