05 - Just 5 - 7 RMP

Human Physiology, An Integrated Approach
Eighth Edition
Chapter 5
Membrane Dynamics
Copyright © 2019, 2016, 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
5.7 The Resting Membrane Potential
• Body is electrically neutral
• Chemical disequilibrium between ICF and ECF
– ICF has a net negative charge
– ECF has a net positive charge
Electricity Review
• Law of conservation of electrical charge
• Opposite charges attract; like charges repel each other
• Separating positive charges from negative charges requires
energy
• Conductor vs. insulator
The Cell Membrane Enables Separation of
Electrical Charge in the Body
• Artificial cell explains the distribution of charges across a
phospholipid bilayer
– Insertion of K + leak channels allows movement of K + ions out of
the cell to down a chemical gradient
– Negative ions cannot follow because the membrane is
impermeable to anions
– Electrical gradient is established
• Electrochemical gradient
– Combination of electrical and concentration gradient
• Equilibrium potential (Eion) is the membrane potential that opposes

the concentration gradient
– Calculated using the Nernst equation
Figure 5.23(b) Membrane Potential
(b) When we begin, the cell has no
membrane potential: The ECF (composed
of Na+ and Cl ions) and the ICF ( K + and
large anions, A  ) are electrically neutral.
The system is in chemical disequilibrium,

with concentration gradients for all four
ions. The cell membrane acts as an
insulator to prevent free movement of
ions between the ICF and ECF.
Figure 5.23(c)-(d) Membrane Potential
+
(c) Now we insert a leak channel for K into the
membrane, making the cell freely permeable to K +
+
The transfer of just one K from the cell to the ECF
creates an electrical disequilibrium: the ECF has a
net positive charge (+1) while the ICF has a net
negative charge (−1). The cell now has a membrane
potential difference, with the inside of the cell
negative relative to the outside.
+
(d) As additional K ions leave the cell, going down
their concentration gradient, the inside of the cell
becomes more negative and the outside becomes
more positive.
How much K + will leave the cell?

+
If K was uncharged, like glucose, it would diffuse out of the cell until the concentration
outside [K]out equaled the concentration inside [K]in. But K + is an ion, so we must consider
its electrical gradient. Remember the rule for movement along electrical gradients:
Opposite charges attract, like charges repel.
Figure 5.23(e) Membrane Potential
(e) In this example, the concentration gradient sending K + out of the
cell is exactly opposed by the electrical gradient pulling K + into the cell.
This is shown by the arrows that are equal in length but opposite in
direction.
Figure 5.23 Equilibrium Potential
Equilibrium Potential
For any ion, the membrane potential that exactly opposes a given concentration gradient
is known as the equilibrium potential (Eion). To calculate the equilibrium potential for any
concentration gradient, we use the Nernst equation:
61 [ion]out
Eion  log where z is the charge on the ion. (i.e., K +  +1)
z [ion]in
The Nernst equation is used for a cell that is freely permeable to only one ion at a time.
Living cells, however, have limited permeability to several ions. To calculate the actual
membrane potential of cells, we use a multi-ion equation called the Goldman-Hodgkin-
Katz equation [discussed in Chapter 8].
Approximate Values for Mammalian Cells

Blank ICF ECF
+
K +
150 5 Using these values for K and the Nernst
equation, the EK is  90 mV.
Na + 15 145
Cl 10 108
(You will need the log function on a calculator.)
All Living Cells Have a Membrane
Potential (1 of 2)
• Resting membrane potential difference (membrane potential)
– Resting is the steady state
– Potential energy stored in the electrochemical gradient
– Difference in electric charges inside and outside of the cell
• Resting membrane potential difference

– The electrical disequilibrium between ECF and ICF
– Called membrane potential
• Measured with a micropipette and voltmeter

• The resting membrane potential is due mostly to potassium
Figure 5.23(f) Membrane Potential
Physiology in Action: The Membrane
Potential
Figure 5.24 Measuring membrane potential
Figure 5.25 The resting membrane potential
of cells
Changes in Ion Permeability Change the
Membrane Potential
• Change depends on concentration of ions across membrane
• Change depends on permeability membrane to ions
– Depolarization
– Repolarization
– Hyperpolarization

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Human Physiology, An Integrated Approach

• Equilibrium potential (Eion) is the membrane potential that opposes

The system is in chemical disequilibrium,

How much K + will leave the cell?

Approximate Values for Mammalian Cells

• Resting membrane potential difference

• Measured with a micropipette and voltmeter

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