Okay so weve had a bit of difficulty with equilibrium potentials so far, which is fair enough, they are

challenging to grasp. In the interest in not continuing to go over them in class, Ill try to explain them
here for those of you who havent quite had the concept click yet.

An equilibrium potential is a value of charge that is required to keep an ion at a specific

concentration. If the ion is at that specific concentration, and the membrane potential is at this
charge value, then the ion will have no net movement in or out of the cell.

In the picture on the LEFT below, the positive ions are much more concentrated outside the cell,
thus have a drive to move into the cell down their concentration gradient. However, a positive
charge inside the cell would repel them from doing so. The exact charge required to perfectly
oppose the inward drive, so the ions have no net movement is the equilibrium potential (in this case
it is a positive equilibrium potential). It is set by and dependent on the concentration gradient of
that ion. For example, if we have a less extreme concentration gradient as we do in the picture in
the center, the charge required to oppose that is much smaller, thus the equilibrium potential for
this particular ion at that particular concentration would be less positive; less positive charge is
required to hold it at a point where there will be no net movement, or said another way, the drive of
the concentration gradient is less, so we need a smaller charge to perfectly balance it.

Finally, in the example on the right, if an ion is in the same concentration on both sides of the
membrane, no charge is required to keep it at that concentration, thus the equilibrium potential is
zero.

However, in physiology, membrane potential is rarely at the equilibrium potential for a given ion, so
as a result, we will have net movement of that ion. In the picture below on the left, the environment
inside the cell is far more negative than the ions equilibrium potential (due to large negatively
charged particles like proteins). As a result, the positive charge required to keep the ion in balance
no longer exists, and the ion begins to move into the cell. In the picture on the right, the inside of
the cell is more positive than the ions equilibrium potential. This excess positivity overcomes the
drive of the ion to move down its concentration gradient, and repels ions out of the cell.
So, in effect, the ion will always move across the membrane in a direction that moves membrane
potential towards that ions own equilibrium potential. In the example above, the ion has an
equilibrium potential of +60mV. If the membrane potential is any more positive than that, the ion
will leave the cell, making the inside of the cell more negative, attempting to drive membrane
potential back down to +60mV. If the inside of the cell is more negative than the ions equilibrium
potential, it will move into the cell, making membrane potential more positive, again trying to drive
this potential towards its own equilibrium potential. If the membrane is at the ions equilibrium
potential, it will have no net movement across the membrane.

Of course, the ion can only move across the membrane if the membrane is permeable to that ion
(i.e. has a channel for the ion).

The more channels (i.e. higher permeability) there are for the ion, the faster the ion can move across
the membrane, hence it can change membrane potential at a higher rate.

IMPORTANT: The ions that move across the membrane are very very few with respect to the total
number of ions inside or outside the cell. But because the changes are occurring at the membrane
itself, and these ions line up along the membrane, a small number of ions changing place can have
a large impact on the charge across the membrane, while having almost no impact on the relative
concentrations of those ions in the ICF and ECF.

In excitable cells, Na+ is more concentrated in the ECF and follows a model much like the example
above. It has an equilibrium potential of +60mV. Membrane potential in a cell is negative (mostly
due to the presence of large negatively charged proteins). RMP, as we know, is about -70mV,
meaning that Na+ will enter the cell if it is able (as shown above).

K+, however, is more concentrated inside the cell. This means it has a negative equilibrium potential.
If the charge inside the cell were -90mV compared to the ECF, it wouldnt move in or out of the cell.
However, since the membrane potential is only -70mV, it will move out of the cell, as there isnt
enough negative charge to hold it in balance.

Remember that the concentration gradients for Na+ and K+ are established and maintained by the
sodium/potassium pump.

Now, with sodium trying to move into the cell to make it more positive, and potassium trying to
move out of the cell to make it more negative, will the cell ultimately become more positive or more
negative? Again, it comes down to rate of movement. There are fewer sodium leak channels in the
cell membrane that potassium leak channels., This means that potassium is moving out of the cell
(making it more negative) faster than sodium is moving in to make it more positive. As a result,
potassium is able to have more control over RMP, and keeps it closer to its own equilibrium
potential. If sodium couldnt move in at all, membrane potential would end up at -90mV due to the
passive movement of potassium ions across the membrane until they reached electrochemical
equilibrium (i.e. reached potassiums equilibrium potential when there would no longer be net
movement). But since there is SOME sodium permeability across the membrane, sodium is able to
trickle in slowly, making RMP slightly more positive than potassiums equilibrium potential. Thus
sodium is always leaking in, and potassium is always leaking out. The concentrations are ultimately
maintained with the sodium/potassium pump.

I wont go too much into action potentials here, but it should now make sense why when we open
up voltage-gated sodium channels during an AP, that membrane potential rapidly becomes more
positive. We increased sodium permeability, and it can now move into the cell much faster than
potassium can move out through leak channels.

Hope that helps.