Energy Availability of Fatty Acid Vs Carbohydrates

[t1me]

Question is from BR VIII-7, but not really passage based.

"More energy is available from the oxidation of fatty acid than from oxidation of carbohydrates because:"

I,II,III type question, II states "the hydroxyl hydrogens in a carbohydrate are released as bare protons with no electrons."

The answer choice was all three roman numerals, to which I ask wtf does II have to do with anything?

The explanation the book gave is "If the hydroxyl oxygen were to loose a hydrogen, it would do so as a bare proton. The electrons stay with the oxygen atom of the functional group and give it a negative charge." This doesn't explain why there is less energy in a carbohydrate... O__O PLEASE HELP?!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[RogueUnicorn]

poor question. my guess at the reason is that the fact that the proton is lost as a proton means that oxygen will eventually form a double bond with carbon, leaving it half-way oxidized to CO2. since energy comes from the oxidation of the compound, this will mean this carbon will release ~half the energy of a comparable carbon of a fat chain.