action potential vs impulse

action potential and impulse both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
action potential	Yes	No	No	No
impulse	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, impulse is a hypernym of action potential; that is, impulse is a word with a broader meaning than action potential:

action potential: the local voltage change across the cell wall as a nerve impulse is transmitted
impulse: the electrical discharge that travels along a nerve fiber

Other hypernyms of action potential include nerve impulse, nervous impulse, neural impulse.

action potential (noun)	impulse (noun)
the local voltage change across the cell wall as a nerve impulse is transmitted	the act of applying force suddenly
	an impelling force or strength
	the electrical discharge that travels along a nerve fiber
	(electronics) a sharp transient wave in the normal electrical state (or a series of such transients)
	a sudden desire
	an instinctive motive