In glucose C6H12O6 , the oxidation state of carbon can be determined by assigning oxidation numbers to each atom in the molecule. Oxygen has an oxidation number of -2, and hydrogen has an oxidation number of +1. To calculate the oxidation state of carbon, we can use the formula:Oxidation state of carbon C = Total oxidation number of the molecule - Oxidation number of hydrogen atoms - Oxidation number of oxygen atoms Since glucose is a neutral molecule, its total oxidation number is 0. There are 12 hydrogen atoms and 6 oxygen atoms in glucose. Therefore, the oxidation state of carbon can be calculated as:Oxidation state of C = 0 - 12 x +1 - 6 x -2 Oxidation state of C = 0 - 12 + 12Oxidation state of C = 0Since there are 6 carbon atoms in glucose, the average oxidation state of each carbon atom is 0.During glycolysis, glucose is converted into two molecules of pyruvate C3H4O3 . In pyruvate, the oxidation state of carbon can be calculated using the same formula:Oxidation state of C = Total oxidation number of the molecule - Oxidation number of hydrogen atoms - Oxidation number of oxygen atoms For pyruvate, the total oxidation number is 0, there are 4 hydrogen atoms, and 3 oxygen atoms. Therefore, the oxidation state of carbon can be calculated as:Oxidation state of C = 0 - 4 x +1 - 3 x -2 Oxidation state of C = 0 - 4 + 6Oxidation state of C = +2Since there are 3 carbon atoms in pyruvate, the average oxidation state of each carbon atom is +2/3.During glycolysis, the oxidation state of carbon in glucose changes from an average of 0 to an average of +2/3 in pyruvate. This indicates that the carbon atoms in glucose are oxidized during glycolysis.