Here's a breakdown:
1. Glucose is phosphorylated by ATP to form glucose-6-phosphate.
2. Glucose-6-phosphate is isomerized to fructose-6-phosphate.
3. Fructose-6-phosphate is phosphorylated by ATP to form fructose-1,6-bisphosphate.
4. Fructose-1,6-bisphosphate is cleaved into glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate and dihydroxyacetone phosphate.
5. Dihydroxyacetone phosphate is isomerized to glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate.
6. Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate is oxidized and phosphorylated to 1,3-bisphosphoglycerate.
7. 1,3-bisphosphoglycerate transfers a phosphate group to ADP, forming 3-phosphoglycerate and ATP.
8. 3-phosphoglycerate is isomerized to 2-phosphoglycerate.
9. 2-phosphoglycerate is dehydrated to phosphoenolpyruvate.
10. Phosphoenolpyruvate transfers a phosphate group to ADP, forming pyruvate and ATP.
Therefore, it takes 10 distinct chemical reactions or steps to break down one glucose molecule into two pyruvic acid molecules.
