Exercise 2

Learn about Skeletal Muscle Physiology by completing the following lab simulation.

Download and open the lab instruction worksheet (PDF format) for this experiment.
Watch the Skeletal Muscle video.
Complete the PhysioEx™ Lab Experiments:
Review what you've learned by downloading and completing the review sheet (PDF or RTF format) or taking the multiple-choice quiz.

Objectives:

To define these terms used in describing muscle physiology: multiple motor unit summation, maximal stimulus, treppe, wave summation, tetanus.
To identify two ways that the mode of stimulation can affect muscle force production.
To plot a graph relating stimulus strength and twitch force to illustrate graded muscle response.
To explain how slow, smooth, sustained contraction is possible in a skeletal muscle.
To graphically understand the relationships between passive, active, and total forces.
To identify the conditions under which muscle contraction is isometric or isotonic.
To describe in terms of length and force the transitions between isometric and isotonic conditions during single muscle twitch.
To describe the effects of resistance and starting length on the initial velocity of shortening.
To explain why muscle force remains constant during isotonic shortening.
To explain experimental results in terms of muscle structure.