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.
Resting Potential Resting potential refers to the polarization of cellular fluid within a neuron that provides the potential to produce an action. Let's use a sports example - in baseball, the batter standing at home plate waiting for the pitcher to throw the ball may be standing still (appears to be in a resting state), but is actually prepared to respond to the pitch. You might say the batter has resting potential to swing the bat.