Name: Maulida Putri Syarifina

Exercise 3: Neurophysiology of Nerve Impulses: Activity 1: The Resting Membrane Potential Lab Report

Pre-lab Quiz Results

You scored 100% by answering 4 out of 4 questions correctly.

1. What is the approximate concentration of K+ inside a typical cell (intracellular concentration)?

You correctly answered: a. 150 mM

2. What is the approximate concentration of K+ outside a cell (extracellular concentration)?

You correctly answered: b. 5 mM

3. What is the approximate concentration of Na+ inside a cell (intracellular concentration)?

You correctly answered: b. 5 mM

4. What is the approximate concentration of Na+ outside a cell (extracellular concentration)?

You correctly answered: a. 150 mM

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Experiment Results
Predict Question:
Predict Question: Predict what will happen to the resting membrane potential if the extracellular K+ concentration is
increased.
Your answer : a. The resting membrane potential will become more negative.

Stop & Think Questions:

What is the polarity of the resting membrane potential (voltage)?
You correctly answered: b. negative

What does it mean that the voltage just inside the membrane is negative?
You correctly answered: b. There are more negative charges than positive charges just inside the membrane.

The membrane of most cells, including neurons, contains passive, open,

K+ leak channels. Given the normal K+ concentrations and the resultant concentration gradient, which direction would K+
be expected to move (diffuse) through these leak channels?
You correctly answered: b. out of the cell

What effect does increasing extracellular K+ have on the net diffusion of K+ out of the cell?
You correctly answered: b. It decreases the net diffusion of K+ .

Which way would Na+ move across the membrane if there were open Na+ channels?
You correctly answered: a. Na+ would diffuse into the cell.

The membrane has open K+ channels, and changing extracellular K+ concentration results in a change in membrane
potential. Changing the extracellular Na+ concentration does not significantly change the membrane potential. What do
your results suggest about the number or state (open or closed) of Na+ channels in the resting membrane of a neuron?
You correctly answered: b. Na+ channels are mostly closed.

Experiment Data:

Extracellular Fluid (ECF) Microelectrode Position Voltage (mV)

Control Cell body extracellular 0
Control Cell body intracellular -70
Control Axon extracellular 0
Control Axon intracellular -70
High K+ Axon intracellular -40
High K+ Axon extracellular 0
High K+ Cell body extracellular 0
High K+ Cell body intracellular -40
Low Na+ Cell body intracellular -72
Low Na+ Cell body extracellular 0
Low Na+ Axon extracellular 0
Low Na+ Axon intracellular -72

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Post-lab Quiz Results
You scored 100% by answering 3 out of 3 questions correctly.

1. A negative membrane potential was recorded when the tip of the microelectrode was
You correctly answered: d. both inside the cell body and inside the axon.

2. Which of the following caused a change in membrane potential from -70 to -40 in the cell body?
You correctly answered: a. an increase in extracellular K+

3. Which of the following has the most negative voltage?

You correctly answered: c. between the inside of the axon and the outside of the axon with control K+ ECF

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Review Sheet Results
1. Explain why increasing extracellular K+ reduces the net diffusion of K+ out of the neuron through the K+ leak
channels.
Your answer:
K+ known as ion intracellular, which means the concentration inside the cell higher than outside the cell. Diffusion happens
when there is a high difference between the concentration inside and outside the cell, where's the ion moves from the high
concentration to the low one. By increasing the extracellular K+, it will only make the difference between the concentration
becomes slight. Therefore, the diffusion of K+ out of the neuron will be reducing

2. Explain why increasing extracellular K+ causes the membrane potential to change to a less negative value. How well
did the results compare with your prediction?
Your answer:
Because of less K+ diffuses out of the neuron, more K+ will remain stay inside the neuron. Therefore, the membrane
potential becomes more positive or less negative

3. Explain why a change in extracellular Na+ did not significantly alter the membrane potential in the resting neuron?
Your answer:
change in extracellular Na+ didn’t significantly alter the membrane potential in the resting neuron because cell membranes
are not permeable to sodium (Na+) ions. Thus, most of Na+ didn’t diffuse into the neuron like potassium did.

4. Discuss the relative permeability of the membrane to Na+ and K+ in a resting neuron.
Your answer:
In a resting neuron, K+ can easily diffuse across the membrane because cell membranes are only permeable to potassium
ions. Because potassium ion concentrations are higher on the inner side of the cell, according to Fick's Law for diffusion,
potassium ions will move through the cell membrane. The movement of potassium ions out of the cell membrane gives rise
to an electric current, which, because it occurs through a diffusion event, is called a diffusion current. Meanwhile, Na+ can’t
easily diffuse across the membrane because cell membranes are not permeable to sodium (Na+) ions or the Na+ channels
mostly closed

5. Discuss how a change in Na+ or K+ conductance would affect the resting membrane potential.
Your answer:
In a state of rest or resting neuron, both inside and outside the cell membrane are potassium and sodium ions, but with
different concentrations. the concentration of potassium ions (K +) on the inside of the membrane is about 35 times higher
than the concentration on the outside. In contrast, the concentration of sodium ions (Na +) on the outside of the cell
membrane is about 10 times higher than the concentration on the inside. The differences in ion concentrations on the inside
and outside of the membrane encourage the diffusion of these ions through the cell membrane. The increasing conductance
of K+ will cause the membrane potential become more negative. Otherwise, the decreasing of K+ will cause the membrane
potential become less negative. It causes a potential difference between the inside and the outside of the cell, with the
inside more negative than the outside. The existence of this potential difference will cause an electric field with the direction
from the outside into the cell. The electric field that leads from outside into the cell creates an electrostatic force that affects
the ions that are around the cell membrane. For the Na+, it works in the opposite way.

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