Chapter 20, Problem 95GP

BIO Mitochondrial Membrane Every cell in the body has organelles called mitochondria that can generate a voltage difference between their interior and exterior. (a) If the capacitance of a mitochondrion is 4.3 × 10^-11 F and the potential difference between the interior and exterior is 0.18 V, how much electrical energy does it store? (b) If a mitochondrion were to use all of its stored electrical energy to produce ATP molecules, and each ATP molecule requires 9.5 × 10^-20 J, how many molecules could it produce? (In reality, ATP molecules are produced by the flow of protons caused by the proton motive force, and not by the direct conversion of electrical energy stored by the capacitance of mitochondria.)