Exercise 2: Skeletal Muscle Physiology: Activity 1: The Muscle Twitch and the Latent Period Lab Report

Pre-lab Quiz Results

You scored 100% by answering 5 out of 5 questions correctly.

1. Skeletal muscles are connected to bones by

You correctly answered: b. tendons.

2. Skeletal muscles are composed of hundreds to thousands of individual cells called

You correctly answered: c. fibers.

3. The term motor unit refers to

You correctly answered: c. one motor neuron and all of the skeletal muscle fibers it innervates.

4. The motor neuron and muscle fiber intersect at what is called

You correctly answered: d. the neuromuscular junction.

5. A twitch is
You correctly answered: a. one contractile response to a single action potential.

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Experiment Results
Predict Question:
Predict Question: Will changes to the stimulus voltage alter the duration of the latent period?
Your answer : b. No, changing the stimulus voltage will not change the latent period duration.

Stop & Think Questions:

What is the period of time that elapses between the generation of an action potential and the start of muscle tension
development in a muscle fiber?
You correctly answered: c. the latent period

What occurs during the latent period of these isometric contractions?

You correctly answered: b. All the steps of excitation-contraction coupling occur.

Experiment Data:

Voltage Length Active Force Passive Force Total Force Latent Period
0.0 75 0.00 0.00 0.00 ---
3.0 75 1.04 0.00 1.04 ---
4.0 75 1.32 0.00 1.32 2.80
6.0 75 1.65 0.00 1.65 2.80
8.0 75 1.81 0.00 1.81 2.80
10.0 75 1.82 0.00 1.82 2.80

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Post-lab Quiz Results
You scored 0% by answering 0 out of 7 questions correctly.

1. An action potential in a motor neuron triggers the release of which neurotransmitter?

You did not answer this question.

Correct answer: b. acetylcholine

2. The term skeletal muscle fiber refers to

You did not answer this question.

Correct answer: a. an individual skeletal muscle cell.

3. The graded depolarization in the skeletal muscle fiber that is elicited in response to one action potential from the motor
neuron is called
You did not answer this question.

Correct answer: c. an EPP (end-plate potential).

4. Which of the following is not a phase of a skeletal muscle twitch?

You did not answer this question.

Correct answer: b. hyperpolarization phase

5. A skeletal muscle twitch is

You did not answer this question.

Correct answer: a. one contractile response to a single action potential.

6. Which of the following correctly matches the twitch phase with its definition?
You did not answer this question.

Correct answer: d. the contraction phase: the time between the end of the latent period and peak muscle tension

7. A sufficiently strong electrical stimulus applied to an isolated, mounted skeletal muscle induces the development of
muscle force, or muscle tension. Which of the following statements concerning this observation is true?
You did not answer this question.

Correct answer: c. The electrical stimulus mimics acetylcholine release at a neuromuscular junction

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Review Sheet Results
You have not completed the Review Sheet.

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