The fluids inside and outside a cell are good conductors separated by the cell w
ID: 2182068 • Letter: T
Question
The fluids inside and outside a cell are good conductors separated by the cell wall, which is a dielectric. Thus the cell has capacitance; charge may be stored on its inner and outer surfaces (see the figure below). It is a good approximation to treat the thin charged layer as a parallel-plate capacitor. Typically the wall is 1.10 10-8 m thick and has a dielectric constant of 5.00.(a) Find the capacitance per cm2 of cell membrane.
1
(b) Suppose the potential difference across the cell wall is 0.115 V. Find the magnitude of the charge stored on either side of the cell wall per cm2.
2
(c) Find the field strength across the membrane.
Explanation / Answer
a)5*10-4/1.1*10-8=4.54*10^4