Passive Membranes Answer 5

• By making the inside of the membrane more negative than the outside, we have created an electrical gradient across the membrane.
• Positively charged potassium ions outside of the membrane will be attracted to the more negatively charged region inside the membrane, and thus will be more likely to flow into the nerve cell.
• At the same time, the positively charged potassium ions within the nerve cell will be repelled by the positively charged region outside the membrane, and will be less likely to flow out.
• The net effect of the electrical gradient will be to induce a flow of positively charged potassium ions into the nerve cell.