Question

A cell membrane consists of an inner and outer wall separated by a distance of approximately 10 nm. Assume that the walls act like a parallel plate capacitor, each with a charge density of 10-5 C/m2, and the outer wall is positively charged. Although unrealistic, assume that the space between cell wall is filled with air. What is the magnitude of the electric field between the membranes

Answer 1

E = 1.1 10⁶ N / C

Step-by-step explanation:

In this case they indicate that we can approximate the membrane as a parallel plate capacitor, we can use

E =
`(\sigma)/(\epsilon_o )`

note that in this case the electric field created by each plate goes in the same direction, they are added

let's calculate

E =
`(10^(-5))/(8.85 \ 10^(-12))`

E = 1.1 10⁶ N / C