there is a dance event going on with students attending from two different high schools. students from one school are wearing purple shirts, and students from the other school are wearing silver shirts. imagine that the students in the purple represent potassium ions and the students in silver represent sodium ions, while the gymnasium represents the neuron. if their distribution is similar to what occurs during the resting potential for a neuron, which students would be more highly concentrated inside the building?

Great analogy! Let's break this down:

Resting Potential in a Neuron

• Potassium ions (K⁺) are more concentrated inside the neuron.
• Sodium ions (Na⁺) are more concentrated outside the neuron.

Applying this to your dance event analogy:

• Purple shirts = Potassium ions (K⁺)
• Silver shirts = Sodium ions (Na⁺)
• Gymnasium = Neuron

Which students are more concentrated inside the gymnasium?

• The purple-shirted students (potassium ions) would be more highly concentrated inside the gymnasium.
• The silver-shirted students (sodium ions) would be more concentrated outside the gymnasium.

So, during the resting potential, the inside of the neuron (the gym) has a higher concentration of potassium (purple shirts), while sodium (silver shirts) is more outside. If you want, I can help you visualize this or explain how this distribution helps create the resting membrane potential!