Name: Jacqui Ching

Exercise 2: Skeletal Muscle Physiology: Activity 6: The Skeletal Muscle Length-Tension Relationship Lab Report

Pre-lab Quiz Results

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

1. During an isometric contraction

You correctly answered: d. the skeletal muscle is generating force, but it remains at a fixed length.

2. The force that results from muscles being stretched is

You correctly answered: a. passive force.

3. Active force
You correctly answered: b. is determined by the amount of myosin bound to actin.

4. When you generate the isometric length-tension curve, which of the following forces will not be indicated on your
screen?
You correctly answered: c. tetanic force

5. Passive force in skeletal muscle is largely caused by

You correctly answered: c. the protein titin.

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Experiment Results
Predict Question:
Predict Question: As the resting length of the muscle is changed, what will happen to the amount of total force the muscle
generates during the stimulated twitch?
Your answer : d. An increase in muscle length will decrease the total force.

Stop & Think Questions:

Note the dip in total force at a muscle length of
90 mm as compared to the total force at a muscle length of 80 and 100 mm. Why does this occur?
You correctly answered: d. At this muscle length, active force has decreased in value and passive force has not yet
increased to a significant value.

Experiment Data:

Voltage Length Active Force Passive Force Total Force

8.5 75 1.82 0.0 1.82
8.5 70 1.75 0.0 1.75
8.5 65 1.55 0.0 1.55
8.5 60 1.21 0.0 1.21
8.5 55 0.73 0.0 0.73
8.5 50 0.11 0.0 0.11
8.5 80 1.75 0.02 1.77
8.5 90 1.21 0.25 1.46
8.5 100 0.11 1.75 1.86

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Post-lab Quiz Results
You scored 100% by answering 5 out of 5 questions correctly.

1. When a skeletal muscle is stimulated and generates force but remains at a fixed length
You correctly answered: d. the muscle is contracting isometrically.

2. Which protein is mostly responsible for the development of passive force in a muscle?
You correctly answered: d. titin

3. In skeletal muscle, active force stimulated through a range of muscle lengths

You correctly answered: b. will utilize ATP hydrolysis to drive the cross bridge cycle.

4. Which of the following is not depicted in a typical skeletal muscle isometric length-tension curve?
You correctly answered: a. time

5. Maximal active tension will be produced in a skeletal muscle fiber when

You correctly answered: a. the fiber is at its resting length.

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Review Sheet Results
1. What happens to the amount of total force the muscle generates during the stimulated twitch? How well did the results
compare with your prediction?
Your answer:
The total force changes with the resting length of the muscle. The shorter the muscle the lesser the total force is. The longer
the muscle, the stronger the total force is up until a point, where the muscle is stretched too far and the total force decreases
drastically.
My answer states that an increase in muscle length will decrease the toal force. From a length of 75mm, this is true.
However if we were to start at 50mm, it would not be.

2. What is the key variable in an isometric contraction of a skeletal muscle?

Your answer:
The muscle length

3. Based on the unique arrangement of myosin and actin in skeletal muscle sarcomeres, explain why active force varies
with changes in the muscle's resting length.
Your answer:
The change in the active force is caused by the amount of myosis bound to actin. The shorter the muscle length, the more
myosin is bound to actin. The longer the muscle, the less myosin is bound to actin.

4. What skeletal muscle lengths generated passive force? (Provide a range.)

Your answer:
50mm lengths up to 75mm generate no passive force. from 75mm to 100mm, passive force increases.

5. If you were curling a 7-kg dumbbell, when would your bicep muscles be contracting isometrically?
Your answer:
At any time when the muscle is at a fixed length.

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