Britney Saysouly BIOC 3021 Unit 1 Essay 3 February 2018 Potassium When it comes to an element's abundance in the environment versus it's concentration I human cells, it all varies upon what exact element that is being researched. For instance, Calcium will differ from Chlorine, Magnesium, Potassium, and so on. Potassium is the eighth most abundant element on earth and comprises approximately 2.1% of the earth's crust, it is a very reactive element and is never found free in nature (Gagnon, n.d). When it comes to the concentration level in human cells, potassium often plays a big role in that as well. The levels contrast upon whether or not it is an intracellular or extracellular compartment. The intracellular compartment is primarily in the …show more content…
There are three separate forces that passively affect how potassium moves through cell channels. One way that affects it is the chemical gradient that occurs and pushes the element out of the cell to re-balance the chemical concentration. When the ions are then pushed out of the cell, automatically, they are drawn back to the cell. The molecule's positive charge is attracted to the negative charge of the proteins inside the cell, where therefore creates the chemical gradient. A second way is when the chemical and electrical gradients go up against one another because they urge the potassium ions to move in opposite direction, this therefore creates an electrochemical gradient. Lastly, the electrochemical gradient is used to determine how many potassium ions actually interchange through the potassium channels. This is especially relevant because the potassium ions will continue to flow into and out of the cell until a level of equilibrium is established (Gate, n.d). Another key point is what potassium's biological function in human physiology. In broader perspectives, it …show more content…
Potassium serves as a cofactor in enzyme reactions and plays a crucial role catalytically. In order to stabilize catalytic intermediates or to provide optimum locating of substrates, that is able to be determined through the high intracellular and extracellular concentrations of potassium and sodium (Vašák & Schnabl, n.d). The synchronization of chemistry between sodium and potassium ions are responsible for the metal binding site selectivity in M(+) activated enzymes. The M(+) activated enzymes are used to show the structural basis for type I and type II activation from the sodium and potassium ions (Vašák & Schnabl, n.d). With the importance of potassium in a person's body and all the functions it does, what happens if there is a deficiency of potassium? Not only does it play a crucial role in how a person's muscles work effectively, which was explained earlier in the paper. However, potassium is also important when it comes to regulating blood pressure. If someone's potassium level becomes low, also known as hypokalaemia, it may cause weakness as the cellular processes are affected (WebMD, n.d). With that being said, since potassium is a mineral and nearly 98% of the ions are found within the cells, even the slightest bit of changes in the level of potassium that is found outside the cells may also cause severe effects on the heart, nerves, and muscles. The control of potassium is regulated by removing the excess amount of it into the
Potassium ion is a positive ion in the hydrate compounds (K+). 67. Dalton’s perception of potassium aluminum sulfate is different from what is known today because Dalton’s structure does not show the hydrogen elements that are included in the hydrate. 68. percent composition by mass of water =
Chem 111 Post-Exam Self-Assessment See the instructions in Canvas for more details about how this assignment will be scored. 1. Fill in these blanks: Exam Number __3__ Your Predicted Exam Score _75_% Actual Exam Score _77.67% Current Course Score _
From the safety data sheet, the main health hazard of potassium carbonate is to cause serious eye and skin irritation (Armand 2015). To control the hazard of the potassium carbonate, protective gloves and eye glasses are required, also dust masks should be worn to prevent breathing or swallowing dusts when handling the powder form. 6.2.2 Electrical hazard Electrical equipment such as generator and turbines pose the risk of electrical fire, the most common cause of this being leakage of lubricant oil. (F.E. global) The leaking lube oil is ignited by the hot surface of the steam or gas turbine and causes fire.
Q1 The organs involved in the homeostatic system of salt regulation are pineal gland, pituitary glands, thyroid gland ,thymus, adrenal, pancreas, ovary and testis. All our bodies removes uneeded fluid by filtering your blood through your kidney, via osmosis, to draw excess water out of your blood. This requires a balance of sodium and potassium to pull the water across the wall from the bloodstream into a collecting channel in the kidney. A high salt diet will alter this sodium balance, causing the kidneys to have reduced function and remove less water resulting in higher blood pressure.
Kylinn Walston RADT 3143 Chapter 1: Cellular Biology 1-1. Explain how the structure of the plasma membrane influences the movement of oxygen, carbon dioxide, and sodium ions. a. The plasma membrane is extremely important because of its multi-functionality to each cell, it is what keeps the cell complete. The membrane structure is determined by the lipid bilayer, and proteins determine the membrane functions. The membrane has a lipid bilayer containing hydrophobic and hydrophilic regions. This bilayer blocks hydrophilic substances from passing while still allowing water diffusion.
Potassium is present in many food sources, and the typical person has high stores within the body. In activity and sweat, potassium losses are not as high as sodium. Calcium is the most abundant mineral in the body. Calcium has many roles both in normal body functions and athletic performance. When circulating in the bloodstream, it has a major impact on the metabolism of essential nutrients, and proper physiological functions.
The ions exchanged include potassium ions (K+) and sodium ions (Na+). Sodium ions are sodium atoms with a positive charge as a result of losing and electron. Certain proteins along the cell's plasma membrane called ion channels play a significant role in the process, allowing particular ions in and out of the membrane.
RESTING MEMBRANE POTENTIAL When the neuron is not sending a signal at rest the membrane potential called as resting membrane potential. In this stage, permeability of K+ much greater than Na+ When a neuron is at rest, the inside of the neuron is negative relative to the outside. Although the concentrations of the different ions endeavor to balance out on both sides of the membrane, they cannot because the cell membrane sanctions only some ions to pass through channels (ion channels). At rest, potassium ions (K+) can cross through the membrane facilely. Additionally at rest, chloride ions (Cl-) and sodium ions (Na+) have a more arduous time crossing.
Activity 1 Increasing extracellular K+ reduces the net diffusion of K+ out of the neuron through the K+ leak channels because it caused to decrease in the concentration gradient. Increasing extracellular K+ causes the membrane potential to change to a less negative value because extracellular K+ is increasing, which it will cause intracellular K+ to be less. A change in extracellular Na+ did not alter the membrane potential in the resting neuron because there are a lot of K+ leak channels than Na+ leak channels The relative permeability of the membrane to Na+ and K+ in a resting neuron is that Na+ leak channel is less, but K+ leak channels has more so the membrane become less permeable to Na+.
Introduction: Enzymes are biological catalysts that increase the rate of a reaction without being chemically changed. Enzymes are globular proteins that contain an active site. A specific substrate binds to the active site of the enzyme chemically and structurally (4). Enzymes also increase the rate of a reaction by decreasing the activation energy for that reaction which is the minimum energy required for the reaction to take place (3). Multiple factors affect the activity of an enzyme (1).
Background: Explain on the cellular level how dropping warm Ringers solution on the frog’s heart would affect the cells of the SA node. Dropping warm Ringers solution on the frog’s heart would increase the heart rate because the calcium channels open faster. Explain on the cellular level how dropping warm Ringers solution on the frog’s heart would affect the cells of the contractile muscle of the ventricles. Dropping warm Ringers solution on the frog’s heart would increase the heart rate because the actin binds to the myosin more quickly due to the calcium channels opening faster leading to faster contraction of the heart.
Mild hyperkalemia may not produce any symptoms or signs. More significant elevations in potassium may lead to muscle weakness, paralysis, and cardiac conduction abnormalities. Cardiac arrhythmias may include atrial fibrillation or more serious ventricular arrhythmias such as ventricular tachycardia or fibrillation. These latter arrhythmias can be fatal. How is hyperkalemia diagnosed?
Introduction 1.1 Aim: To determine the kinetic parameters, Vmax and Km, of the alkaline phosphatase enzyme through the determination of the optimum pH and temperature. 1.2 Theory and Principles (General Background): Enzymes are highly specific protein catalysts that are utilised in chemical reactions in biological systems.1 Enzymes, being catalysts, decrease the activation energy required to convert substrates to products. They do this by attaching to the substrate to form an intermediate; the substrate binds to the active site of the enzyme. Then, another or the same enzyme reacts with the intermediate to form the final product.2 The rate of enzyme-catalysed reactions is influenced by different environmental conditions, such as: concentration
ABSTRACT: The purpose of the experiments for week 5 and week 6 support each other in the further understanding of enzyme reactions. During week 5, the effects of a substrate and enzyme concentration on enzyme reaction rate was observed. Week 6, the effects of temperature and inhibitor on a reaction rate were monitored. For testing the effects of concentrations, we needed to use the table that was used in week 3, Cells.
Since equilibrium cannot be reached, an electrochemical driving force is generated which acts on the ions. It is derived by finding the difference between the membrane potential obtained and the equilibrium potential expected. The sign of the value of this force decides the direction of movement of ions. Since we have cations (positive ions), a positive value shows movement of ions outside the cell membrane and a negative value shows movement of ions inside the cell membrane. If the value is equal to that of the equilibrium potential, the driving force acting on the ion is 0.