Final answer:
Glycolysis is the process by which glucose is broken down to produce energy. It begins with the phosphorylation of glucose and goes through several steps to produce ATP and other compounds.
Step-by-step explanation:
Glycolysis is the process by which glucose is broken down to produce energy in the form of ATP. The first step of glycolysis is the phosphorylation of glucose by hexokinase, using ATP as the source of a phosphate group. This reaction converts glucose into glucose-6-phosphate. Another ATP is used to convert glucose-6-phosphate into fructose-6-phosphate and then fructose-1,6-bisphosphate. The glucose molecule is then split into two three-carbon molecules, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate and dihydroxyacetone phosphate, which are further converted into glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate. Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate is phosphorylated again using groups donated by dihydrogen phosphate to form 1,3-bisphosphoglycerate. The energy for this reaction comes from the oxidation of glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate.