If a cell is able to synthesize 30 ATP molecules for each molecule of glucose completely oxidized by carbon dioxide and water, how many ATP molecules can the cell synthesize for each molecule of pyruvate oxidized to carbon dioxide and water?

The answer to the question is;

The number of ATP molecules the cell synthesize for each molecule of pyruvate oxidized to carbon dioxide and water is 14 ATP molecules.

Explanation:

The chemical reaction for glycolysis is

Glucose + 2 NAD⁺ + 2 Pi + 2 ADP → 2 pyruvate + 2 NADH + 2 ATP + 2 H⁺ + 2 H₂O + heat

As seen above, each glucose molecule produces 2 pyruvate molecules and 2 ATP. Therefore, if the cell can produce 30 ATP per glucose molecule then, since 2 ATP are already produced directly by the glycolysis of glucose, the remaining 28 ATP re produced from the two pyruvate molecules

Therefore, the number of ATP molecules the cell can synthesize for each pyruvate oxidized to carbon dioxide and water is 28/2 or 14 ATP.