Name: Gracia Natalia Herawati

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

You correctly answered: c. fibers.

3. The term motor unit refers to

Your answer : a. all of the motor neurons that innervate one skeletal muscle.
Correct answer: 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.

09/05/22 page 1
Experiment Results
Predict Question:
Predict Question: Will changes to the stimulus voltage alter the duration of the latent period?
Your answer : a. Yes, changing the stimulus voltage will change the latent period duration proportionately.

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 ----
6.0 75 1.65 0.0 1.65 26.40
8.0 75 1.81 0.0 1.81 24.40
10.0 75 1.82 0.0 1.82 24.40

09/05/22 page 2
09/05/22 page 3
09/05/22 page 4
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

You correctly answered: 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
Your answer: a. an EPSP (excitatory postsynaptic potential).
Correct answer: 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

09/05/22 page 5
Review Sheet Results
You have not completed the Review Sheet.

09/05/22 page 6