An "ion-channel forming" molecule can often show multiple types of conductance activities in planar bilayer membranes.  Each of these modes of action can be characterized by their
* open duration (sub-ms---hours), related to whether the active structure is kinetically labile,
* unit conductance (pS---nS), related to the geometry of the active structure, and
* open probability, a fraction related to the thermodynamic stability of that active structure relative to inactive forms.
These events are not necessarily uniform throughout their durations, and as a result a variety of shapes of conducting traces are possible.