The V field and Relating the fiel...

The V field and Relating the field and the V field Spark jumps to nose

Energy used to charge nerve cells A nerve cell is shaped like a cylinder. The membrane wall of the cylinder has a +0.07-V potential difference from the inside to the outside of the wall. To help maintain this potential difference, sodium ions are pumped from inside the cell to the outside. For a typical cell, 109 ions are pumped each second. (a) Determine the change in chemical energy each second required to produce this increase in electric potential energy. (b) If there are roughly 7 x 10¹¹ of these cells in the body, how much chemical energy is used in pumping sodium ions each second? (c) Estimate the fraction of a person’s metabolic rate used to pump these ions.