The membrane surrounding a living cell consists of an inner and an outer wall th
ID: 1407410 • Letter: T
Question
The membrane surrounding a living cell consists of an inner and an outer wall that are separated by a small space. Assume that the membrane acts like a parallel plate capacitor in which the effective charge density on the inner and outer walls has a magnitude of 6.9 x 10-6 cm2. (a) What is the magnitude of the electric cell membrane? (b) Find the magnitude of the electric force that would be exerted on a potassiu m i (K charge e) placed inside the field within the membrane (a) Number Units (b) Number nitsExplanation / Answer
A) electric field between capacitor plates, E = sigma/epsilon
= 6.9*10^-6/(8.854*10^-12)
= 7.79*10^5 N/c
B) F = q*E
= 1.6*10^-19*7.79*10^5
= 1.25*10^-13 N