Electric potential

side of the dam. This relatively higher elevation is what gives the water the potential energy to turn the turbine when it begins to flow ("Hydroelectric Energy."). Potential energy is calculated by the force due to gravity multiplied by the change in height of the matter. So, a reservoir of just 10 cubic meters of water that is 50 meters above the river on the other side and flowing at just 1 meter per second, has a potential power of 49,000 watts for every second that it flows. Under these…

Long ago, a man named Yugong (foolish man) lived in a house sitting behind two giant mountains. One morning, Yugong started taking rocks away from the mountains and told his neighbors that he was going to move them because they were blocking his way. One of his neighbors, known as Zhisou (wise man) heard the story and laughed: “Have you seen the sizes of the mountains? How could you ever have them moved?” Yugong answered, “I will just get it started. My children will continue; so will my…

Estimating the speed of neural transmission from hand-ankle (treatment A) and hand-hand (treatment B) Introduction A neuron is a specialised cell transmitting nerve impulses and its function is to transmit information within the nervous system which is a network of nerve cells and fibres which transmit nerve impulses between parts of the body. Neural transmission occurs when a neuron is activated (sends out an electrical impulse). Activation of a neuron takes place when the neuron is stimulated…

Potassium channels (KC) are selective transmembrane proteins that allow K+ ions flow down an electrochemical gradient across cell membrane, thus controlling plasma membrane potential in both excitable and non-excitable cells (Szabo, Zoratti&Gulbins, 2010). Evolutionarily conserved KC family is one of the larges and most diverse of ion channels (Table1). Its diversity comes not only from a large number of genes coding for main subunits (over 80 mammalian genes). Many other processes such as…

postsynaptic nerve terminal (the dorsal horn neuron)[1]. Specifically activation of α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methylisoxazole-4-propionate (AMPA)-type and N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA)-type glutamate receptors lead to depolarization and the generation of action potentials which transmits the pain impulses through ascending pathways (e.g. spinothalamic tract ) to the brain. Neuropeptides like substance P are also released into the synapse and have been shown to prolong the depolarization wave elicited by…

The brain works in mysterious ways. According to Dr. Rita Smilkstein we learn in a series of steps and something as to how you feel when learning something new depends on if you can even remember that knowledge. I believe that the way Dr. Smilkstein explains how the brain works is true compared to some of my own personal stories. According to the research of Dr. Rita Smilkstein, humans learn in five or six stages, which she calls the Natural Human Learning Process (NHLP). This was true of how I…

known as an Action Potentials (AP), which propagate down an axon to transmit a signal to another cell. The signal may be transmitted to another neuron through a synapse of another dendrite or will form a Neuromuscular junction with a skeletal muscle cell. Skeletal muscle consists of many multinucleated muscle fibers connected to intercalation of sarcoplasmic…

damage to the body. The effects of multiple sclerosis are seen as the result of occurrences taking place at a more molecular level. “If an axon loses myelin, it still lacks sodium channel in the areas previously covered with myelin, and most action potentials die out between one node and the next” (Kalat, p.44-45). Multiple sclerosis will present itself with a wide array of…

before it settles down. The wheel moves because you bouncing up and down as the scale gets rid of excess energy. You bouncing up and down because you have excess energy that is shifting back and forth between gravitational potential energy, kinetic energy, and elastic potential energy. This bouncing continues until sliding friction in the scale has converted it all into thermal energy. Only then the bouncing stop and the scale read your correct…

The neuron is the basic working unit of the nervous system. It is a specialized cell that is designed to transmit information to other cells across the body. Neurons make up such a large part of the brain, that they are also responsible for learning, reasoning, memory, and perception. The neuron comes from the portion of the body known as the nervous system, which is responsible for the impulses sent throughout the body. The neuron is composed of several parts in its structure and to ensure…