The fluids inside and outside a cell are good conductors separated by the cell w

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

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