Cellular Potentials and Charge

Flashcards reviewing key concepts about cellular membrane potential, action potential, and charge differences across cell membranes.

What is the term for when a cell is responding to its environment with a rapid, short-lived reversal of intracellular charge?

Action Potential

What term describes the state where the charges across the cell membrane are opposite, with the inside negative and the outside positive?

Polarized or Resting Cell

What measurement is used to quantify electrical charge, including in car batteries and the human body?

Volts (or millivolts in the body)

What is the potential electrical difference?

The separation of positive and negative charges across the membrane.

What is it called when a cell is undisturbed and not responding to any stimuli?

Resting Cell

What must a cell do to return to resting state?

Repolarize

What happens during Depolarization?

Resting membrane potential changes from negative to positive.

What is the average millivot resting charge of a cell?

-70 to -85

What is the name of the potential across the cell membrane?

Transmembrane Potential

What does the intracellular reading compared to extracellular read when talking about resting state?

Inside is negative, outside is positive.

What is the most common type of metal used in wiring?

Copper

What creates potential across a cell membrane?

The barrier separating charges.

What is the definition of threshold when discussing membrane potentials?

Enough change in the intracellular charge that results in a less negative charge, leading to action potential.

What are the two types of channels?

Gated and Non-Gated

Why is the intracellular environment negative?

It is maintained through active transport mechanisms.

When a cell is in action, what is it called?

Depolarized

Which way is sodium trying to go?

Inside the cell

What is a gated channel?

Regulated with a protein barrier.

When the charges in the cell membrane are opposite on either side, the charges are…

Polarized

What is repolarization?

Making the potential inside the cell negative again.