Definition: A portion of a line which starts at a point and goes off in a particular direction to infinity. Try this Adjust the ray below by dragging an orange dot and see how the ray AB behaves. Point A is the ray's endpoint.
Plant cell cross-section, showing the membrane. Animal cell cross-section, showing the membrane. Resting membrane potential is the difference in voltage of the fluids inside a cell and outside a cell, which is usually between -70 to -80 millivolts (mV). View slideshow of images above.
The resting potential of a cell is the membrane potential that would be maintained if there were no action potentials, synaptic potentials, or other active changes in the membrane potential.ypically, the amount of certain potassium channels is most important for control of the resting potential (see below). Some ion pumps such as the Na+/K+ATPase are electrogenic, that is, they produce charge imbalance across the cell membrane and can also contribute directly to the membrane potential.