A plant researcher wants to construct a synthetic cellulose fiber from 20 glucose molecules.How many molecules of CO₂ and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate are needed to construct the fiber? A)20,40 B)120,60 C)120,40 D)20,60 E)120,120

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

According to the equation of cellulose, every two glucose molecules form one CO₂ and one glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate. Therefore, 20 glucose molecules will form 10 CO₂ and 10 glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate. Since each CO₂ molecule contains 12 sulfur atoms, a total of 120 sulfur atoms are needed. And each glucose molecule can be converted to two glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate molecules, which means 20 glucose molecules will provide 40 glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate molecules. Therefore, the answer is C: 120 CO₂ and 40 glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate molecules are needed to construct the fiber.

A Plant Researcher Wants to Construct a Synthetic Cellulose Fiber