Wookie wrote in message <36bb94b0.44628370 at news.casema.net>...
>I know that a difference in charge between intracellular and
>extracellular is responsible for the membrane potential.
>But I just can't grasp the idea of a potential, the only thing that
>you can measure is a difference.
>As I understand correctly the membrane potential is the force
>experienced by a charged particle that's within this electric field.
>Can please someone give a better definition
>You have it, basically. The most important idea is that the electric
potential is a measure of one of the forces that tends to make ions
move, the other force being diffusion measured by the concentration
gradient (or difference). What I tell students is that it potential
is
the number you get when you stick a voltmeter across the membrane.
For more details, take physics.
You also need a technical definition of "charge", but then you need
a definition of "force" and "energy" as well. Where do your begin?
Where do you end? Your definition is what you need.
