Question

At the resting membrane potential, potassium has an electrical gradient that makes potassium want to move:

a. Into the cell and out of the cell (i.e., in both directions)
b. Out of the cell (i.e., from inside to outside)
c. In neither direction (i.e., a gradient of 0)
d. Into the cell (i.e., from outside to inside)
e. None of the other answers are correct

Answer 1

Potassium ions tend to move out of the cell at the resting membrane potential due to the concentration gradient and the negative charge inside the cell.

Step-by-step explanation:

At the resting membrane potential, potassium ions (K+) have an electrical gradient that influences their movement across the cell membrane. Due to the higher concentration of K+ inside the cell compared to the outside, there is a concentration gradient that encourages potassium to move out of the cell. Additionally, because the inside of the cell is negatively charged relative to the outside at approximately -70 mV, this negative charge further influences the movement of the positively charged potassium ions out of the cell to balance this electrical charge difference.