2. when carbohydrates are oxidized, the c-h bonds of the carbohydrate become c=o bonds of carbon dioxide. oxidation is defined as a loss of electrons, but carbon does not become positively charged in the process. why then is this considered oxidation?
a) the shared electrons in c-o bonds spend less time close to the carbon nucleus than the shared electrons in c-h bonds.
b) electrons in the c=o bonds are higher energy than the electrons in the c-h bonds.
c) c=o bonds in co2 are double bonds, and c-h bonds are single bonds.
d) the phosphate groups of atp are ionized, and carbons donate those electrons.

A) The shared electrons in C-O bonds spend less time close to the carbon nucleus than the shared electrons in C-H bonds.

Explanation:

The electronegativity from H is 2.2, from C is 2.55 and from O is 3.44. This property is the measure of the attractive force between an atom and a pair of electrons.

So, the difference of electronegativity of H and C is smaller than the difference between O and C. Because oxygen is more electronegative, the electrons stay close to it in the bond C=O. So carbon has a partial positive charge in that bond. For the bond C-H, the shared electrons stay closes to carbon.

14 days is the half-life of phosphorus-32