Name: Enriquez, Jigs 4Bio8

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 : c. Total force can increase or decrease depending upon the starting resting length.

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 80% by answering 4 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

Your answer: c. will always be the dominant value contributing to the total force of the muscle.
Correct answer: 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 amount of total force that the muscle generated was contributed mostly by the active force. Later in the experiment, the
total force indeed changed when length was change but it only decreased whenever muscle length was increased or
decreased.

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

Your answer:
Muscle length is the key variable in an isometric contraction.

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:
Active force is generated from myosin thick filaments bind to thin actin filaments, engaging the cross bridge cycle and ATP
hydrolysis. Active force data changes as the resting length of the muscle changes. When the resting length of the muscle is
shortened, the active force amount increases. When the resting length of the muscle is lengthened, the active force amount
decreases. The change in the active force amount is completely caused by the amount of myosis bound to actin. The
shorter the muscle's resting length is, the more myosis filaments bind to actin filaments.

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

Your answer:
The muscle lengths that generated passive force were 80, 90 and 100.

5. If you were curling a 7-kg dumbbell, when would your bicep muscles be contracting isometrically?
Your answer:
At any point in which the bicep muscle remains at a fixed length. My best example is holding 2 dumbbells parallel to the floor
and holding them in that position for 30 seconds. The muscles are contracting but are not shortening.

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