Physiologically, a concentration gradient of charged particles is set up across the cell membrane of neurons at considerable energetic expense. This allows for the rapid transmission of signals using electrical impulses — changes in the electrical voltage across the membrane — under the action of some external stimulus.
The content in this category covers electrical circuit elements, electrical circuits, and electrochemistry. The topics and subtopics are below.
Topic Level Key:
The abbreviations found in parentheses indicate the course(s) in which undergraduate students at many colleges and universities learn about the topics and associated subtopics. The course abbreviations are:BIO = two-semester sequence of introductory biology
GC = two-semester sequence of general chemistry
PHY = two-semester sequence of introductory physics
Electrostatics (PHY)
- Charge, conductors, charge conservation
- Insulators
- Coulomb’s Law
- Electric field E
- Field lines
- Field due to charge distribution
- Electrostatic energy, electric potential at a point in space
Circuit Elements (PHY)
- Current I = ΔQ/Δt, sign conventions, units
- Electromotive force, voltage
- Resistance
- Ohm’s Law: I = V/R
- Resistors in series
- Resistors in parallel
- Resistivity: ρ = R⋅A / L
- Capacitance
- Parallel plate capacitor
- Energy of charged capacitor
- Capacitors in series
- Capacitors in parallel
- Dielectrics
- Conductivity
- Metallic
- Electrolytic
- Meters
Magnetism (PHY)
- Definition of magnetic field B
- Motion of charged particles in magnetic fields; Lorentz force
Electrochemistry (GC)
- Electrolytic cell
- Electrolysis
- Anode, cathode
- Electrolyte
- Faraday’s Law relating amount of elements deposited (or gas liberated) at an electrode to current
- Electron flow; oxidation, and reduction at the electrodes
- Galvanic or Voltaic cells
- Half-reactions
- Reduction potentials; cell potential
- Direction of electron flow
- Concentration cell
- Batteries
- Electromotive force, Voltage
- Lead-storage batteries
- Nickel-cadmium batteries
Specialized Cell - Nerve Cell (BIO)
- Myelin sheath, Schwann cells, insulation of axon
- Nodes of Ranvier: propagation of nerve impulse along axon
To support your studies, see the following video tutorials below from the Khan Academy MCAT Collection. The videos and associated questions were created by the Khan Academy in collaboration with the AAMC and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
