Physics for Scientists and Engineers: A Strategic Approach with Modern Physics (3rd Edition)

Published by Pearson
ISBN 10: 0321740904
ISBN 13: 978-0-32174-090-8

Chapter 29 - Potential and Field - Exercises and Problems - Page 865: 70

Answer

$ 6.1\times 10^7\;\rm ion$

Work Step by Step

As the author told us, we can consider the cell's membrane as a parallel plate capacitor. And let's assume that the cell is shaped as a sphere. Recalling that the potential difference of a parallel plate capacitor is given by $$\Delta V_C=\dfrac{Q}{C}$$ So the charge in potential difference requires a change in the charge, so $$\Delta Q=C\Delta V_C$$ $$\Delta Q=C(V_f-V_i)$$ where $\Delta Q$ is the net charge of the sodium ions that enter the cell. The charge of one sodium ion equals the charge of one proton $q=e$. Hence, $$Ne=C(V_f-V_i)$$ where $N$ is the number of sodium ions; $$N=\dfrac{C(V_f-V_i)}{e}$$ where $C=\dfrac{\epsilon_0\kappa A}{d}$ $$N=\dfrac{\epsilon_0\kappa A(V_f-V_i)}{ed}$$ and $A=4\pi R^2$ Plug the known; $$N=\dfrac{4\pi \epsilon_0\kappa AR^2(V_f-V_i)}{ed}$$ $$N=\dfrac{4\pi (8.85\times 10^{-12})(9) (25\times 10^{-6})^2(40-(-70))}{(1.6\times 10^{-19})(7\times 10^{-6})}$$ $$N=\color{red}{\bf 6.1\times 10^7}\;\rm ion$$
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