Name: Sun Ko

Exercise 2: Skeletal Muscle Physiology: Activity 1: The Muscle Twitch and the Latent Period Lab Report
Pre-lab Quiz Results
You scored 80% by answering 4 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
Your answer : b. myofibrils.
Correct answer: 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 0.0 0.0 0.0 ----
3.0 75 1.04 0.0 1.04 ----
4.0 75 1.32 0.0 1.32 ----
4.0 75 1.32 0.0 1.32 3.20
6.0 75 1.65 0.0 1.65 ----
6.0 75 1.65 0.0 1.65 3.20
8.0 75 1.81 0.0 1.81 3.20
10.0 75 1.82 0.0 1.82 3.20
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Post-lab Quiz Results
You scored 83% by answering 5 out of 6 questions correctly.
1. An action potential in a motor neuron triggers the release of which neurotransmitter?
You correctly answered: b. acetylcholine
2. The term skeletal muscle fiber refers to
Your answer: b. an isolated skeletal muscle, such as the biceps or the triceps.
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 correctly answered: c. an EPP (end-plate potential).
4. Which of the following is not a phase of a skeletal muscle twitch?
You correctly answered: b. hyperpolarization phase
5. A skeletal muscle twitch is
You correctly answered: a. one contractile response to a single action potential.
6. Which of the following correctly matches the twitch phase with its definition?
You correctly answered: d. the contraction phase: the time between the end of the latent period and peak muscle tension
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Review Sheet Results
1. Define the terms skeletal muscle fiber, motor unit, skeletal muscle twitch, electrical stimulus, and latent period.
Your answer:
Skeletal Muscle Fiber: composed of 100-1000's of cells that produce tension. These fibers move our bodies and enable us
to have manual dexterity.
Motor Unit: consists of one motor neuron and all of the skeletal muscle fibers it stimulates.
Skeletal Muscle Twitch: is a period of excitation contraction in which electrical pulses trigger an action potential.
Electrical Stimulus: is isolated and sends energy through a muscle where a response occurs.
Latent Period: begining of a muscle contraction
2. What is the role of acetylcholine in a skeletal muscle contraction?
Your answer:
ACH is released at the end-plate, diffuses into sarcolemma, attaches to receptors in the motor end plate, and causes a
change in the ions permeability that creates depolarization of the end plate potential (muscle contraction).
3. Describe the process of excitation-contraction coupling in skeletal muscle fibers.
Your answer:
Motor neuron triggers release of ACH. ACH diffuses on sarcolemma and binds to the motor neuron end plate that results in
graded depolarization. Event leads to end plate potential and triggers events that lead to contraction.
4. Describe the three phases of a skeletal muscle twitch.
Your answer:
Latent phase is the begining of a muscle contracion. The contraction phase is when the muscle tension is at its highest.
Then the relaxed phase is when the contraction ends till the next one basically begins.
5. Does the duration of the latent period change with different stimulus voltages? How well did the results compare with
your prediction?
Your answer:
No, they all stayed the same. The results supported my prediction.
6. At the threshold stimulus, do sodium ions start to move into or out of the cell to bring about the membrane
depolarization?
Your answer:
The sodium ions start to move moving into the cell to bring about the membrane depolarization.