Steady state (biochemistry)

This article is about steady state of ions across cell membranes. For other uses, see Steady state (disambiguation).

In ionic steady state, cells maintain different internal and external concentrations of various ionic species.

Cells are said to be in a steady state NOT in an equilibrium. This means that there is a differential distribution of ions on either side of the cell membrane - that is, the amount of ions either side is not equal and therefore a charge separation exists. However, ions move across the cell membrane and almost constantly maintain and resting membrane potential; this is known as 'steady state.'