A model of a red blood cell portrays the cell as a spherical capacitor—a positively charged liquid sphere of surface area A separated from the surrounding negatively charged fluid by a membrane of thickness t. Tiny electrodes introduced into the interior of the cell show a potential difference of 100 mV across the membrane. The membrane’s thickness is estimated to be 100 nm and whose dielectric constant is 5.00.
(a) If an average red blood cell has a mass of 1.00 x 10–12 kg, estimate the volume of the cell and thus find its surface area. The density of blood is 1 100 kg/m3.
(b) Estimate the capacitance of the cell.
(c) Calculate the charge on the surface of the membrane. How many electronic charges does the surface charge represent?