Click here for a full size diagram if you cannot view and manipulate the above magnifying glass by holding down your left mouse button and moving your mouse or trackball.

Glucose2 3-carbon pyruvate molecules + 4 ATP + 2 NADH (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide)
C₆H₁₂O₆CH₃-COH-COO^-

One mole of glucose releases 686 kilocalories of heat when burned in air!

Cells use enzymes to control respiration.

2 ATP from glycolysis (substrate-level phosphorylation) is used to transport the 2 NADH across the membranes of the mitochondrion into the matrix.  Substrate-level phosphorylation accounts for only 10% of all ATP produced during cellular respiration.  The other 90% comes from oxidative phosphorylation in the mitochondrion.