{"id":207367,"date":"2025-04-21T15:55:35","date_gmt":"2025-04-21T15:55:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/learnexams.com\/blog\/?p=207367"},"modified":"2025-04-21T15:55:37","modified_gmt":"2025-04-21T15:55:37","slug":"the-sodium-potassium-pump-is-an-example-of","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/2025\/04\/21\/the-sodium-potassium-pump-is-an-example-of\/","title":{"rendered":"The sodium\/potassium pump is an example of"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The sodium\/potassium pump is an example of
fascilitated diffusion
an antiporter
passive transport
secondary active transport
a symporter<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The correct answer and explanation is :<\/strong><\/mark><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The correct answer is: an antiporter<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Explanation (300 words):<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The sodium\/potassium pump<\/strong> (Na\u207a\/K\u207a pump), also known as Na\u207a\/K\u207a-ATPase<\/strong>, is a classic example of an antiporter<\/strong>, a type of membrane transport protein that moves two or more ions or molecules in opposite directions<\/strong> across a membrane. Specifically, the sodium\/potassium pump moves three sodium ions (Na\u207a) out of<\/strong> the cell and two potassium ions (K\u207a) into<\/strong> the cell during each cycle, against their respective concentration gradients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This pump is also an example of primary active transport<\/strong>, as it requires direct energy input in the form of ATP<\/strong> to function. The ATP is hydrolyzed to provide the energy necessary to change the conformation of the pump and move the ions against their gradients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sodium\/potassium pump is not<\/strong> an example of facilitated diffusion<\/strong> or passive transport<\/strong>, because both of those processes move substances down<\/em> their concentration gradients and do not require energy<\/strong>. In contrast, the Na\u207a\/K\u207a pump works against gradients and requires ATP<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is also not<\/strong> a symporter<\/strong>, which is a transport protein that moves two substances in the same direction across a membrane. Since the sodium and potassium ions are transported in opposite directions, the Na\u207a\/K\u207a pump does not qualify as a symporter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lastly, while secondary active transport<\/strong> involves the use of a gradient established by primary active transport (usually sodium), the Na\u207a\/K\u207a pump itself creates<\/strong> such a gradient. Therefore, it is not a secondary active transporter but rather the mechanism that makes secondary active transport possible in many cells.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In summary, the Na\u207a\/K\u207a pump is an antiporter<\/strong> that uses primary active transport<\/strong> to maintain cellular ion balance, essential for processes like nerve impulse transmission, muscle contraction, and maintaining resting membrane potential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The sodium\/potassium pump is an example offascilitated diffusionan antiporterpassive transportsecondary active transporta symporter The correct answer and explanation is : The correct answer is: an antiporter Explanation (300 words): The sodium\/potassium pump (Na\u207a\/K\u207a pump), also known as Na\u207a\/K\u207a-ATPase, is a classic example of an antiporter, a type of membrane transport protein that moves two or […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-207367","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-exams-certification"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207367","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=207367"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207367\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=207367"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=207367"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=207367"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}