BIOL273 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Electronegativity, Nernst Equation, Electrochemical Gradient
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Ans: via energy stored as an electrochemical gradient. If the ion channel is nice and open, their is nothing blocking the charge from moving. Fig 5. 11 don"t worry about this too much. Phospholipid bilayer: in terms of its ability to block molecules, can"t pass freely. Only those that are small can move down from high to low concentrations. But need to be able to identify the nernst equation and how we apply it, and what this equilibrium potential means. Will allow to predict the equilibrium potential of only one ion. If you compare the actual membrane potential of the cell to the equilibrium potential for that ion you can predict whether an ion is going to move into or out of the cell. Membrane potentials: refer to page 25 in course notes. At rest there is always a difference in charge between inside and outside of cell.