Written by Prerak Juthani 

The Na/K pumps: ___ K+ ions to the ___ of the cell and ___ Na+ ions to the ___ of the cell.

a) 3, inside, 2 outside

b) 2 inside, 2 outside

c) 2, inside, 3, outside

d) 3 outside, 2, inside          

e) 2, outside, 3, inside 


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The correct answer is C. 

This is NOT a MEMORIZATION question, so please remember that there is some sort of conceptual aspect to this. In this case, the first important part is to remember that the inside of the cell is NEGATIVE compared to the outside (particularly, the membrane potential is around -70 mV – which is something that you NEED to know). This membrane potential is made largely due to the Na+/K+ pump, and thus, the pump must pump out more positive charge than it takes in. From there, you can then remember that the concentration of K+ is larger inside the cell (think neurology and action potentials, which involves K+ diffusing down its concentration gradient and leaving the cell during the hyper polarization period). From this reasoning, you can conclude that the sodium/potassium pump pumps 2 K+ ions to the inside of the cell (against its concentration gradient), and 3 Na+ outside the cell (also against Na+’s concentration gradient). This makes sense because the pump uses ATP as a way to compensate for the unfavorable transfers (the fact that we’re going against the concentration gradients). 

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