The Resting Potential

Summary

This animation presents the experimental setup that enables the recording of the resting membrane potential as well as the origin of this potential.

To understand the experimental setup used to record the resting membrane potential.
To understand the idea of potential difference.
To understand that this potential difference is the result of a disequilibrium among ions on the interior and exterior of the cell.
To understand how the resting potential is actively maintained by the nerve cell.
To understand the central role of the Na+-K+-ATPase pump in maintaining this ionic disequilibrium.
To clarify the role of ATP in nerve cell function

The recording of the membrane resting potential requires :

A segment of the giant axon of a squid, as this material for study is easy to obtain and, given its size, also easy to manipulate.…