🧠 Neuron Interactive
Drag each label into a box, then check your answers
All parts labeled! 🎉
Nice work. Take a look at your labeled neuron for as long as you like. When you're ready, let's see if you know what each part actually does.
How the pump works
The sodium-potassium pump moves Na⁺ and K⁺ against their concentration gradients, from where there are fewer to where there are more. That takes energy (ATP). Watch the numbers change.
Drag 3 sodium ions onto the pump
Cycle 1 of 3
Membrane potential: 0 mV
Nice work! 🎉
Score Sheet
Click Stimulate to bring this section to threshold
Membrane potential−70 mV
One more thing: resetting 🔄
During the action potential, Na⁺ rushed in and K⁺ rushed out. The sodium-potassium pump uses ATP to move them back, resetting the gradients and restoring the resting potential.
Without the pump, the gradients would eventually run down, and the axon could not fire again.
Action potential complete! ⚡
You opened and closed every channel yourself — depolarizing and repolarizing the membrane section by section, just like a real nerve impulse racing down the axon.
Note: action potentials peak at about +30 to +40 mV, depending on the type of neuron.