Questions Flashcards
What are the three main categories of muscle fibers?
Skeletal, smooth, and cardiac.
Describe the structure of the skeletal muscle fiber.
Varying lengths, thread-shaped, striated
Describe the structure of smooth muscle fiber.
Short, spindle shaped, no striations
Describe the structure of the cardiac muscle fiber.
Branching interconnected chains, striated
How are involuntary and voluntary muscles distinguished?
Voluntary muscle is stimulated by consciously directly nerve activity and involuntary muscle aren’t under conscious control.
Why is an individual skeletal muscle cell referred to as a muscle fiber?
It has a thread like shape and contains many nuclei that vary in length and diameter.
Where is smooth (visceral) muscle found?
In the walls of many internal organs such as the stomach, intestines, urinary bladder, and respiratory passages.
What are some functions of smooth muscles?
Moves food through the digestive system, empties the bladder, and changes the diameter of the blood vessels.
What is the main function of cardiac muscles?
Simultaneous contraction of neighboring cells to produce the heartbeat.
How do skeletal and smooth muscles differ in terms of fatigue?
Smooth muscles can sustain contraction for long periods of time without the muscles becoming fatigued unlike skeletal muscle.
What muscle types are controlled involuntarily?
Smooth (visceral) and cardiac.
What are the 4 behavioral properties that all 3 muscle types share?
Irritability, extensibility, elasticity and contractility.
Which of the 4 behavioral characteristics is unique to the muscle tissue?
Contractility.
Describe what happens to the biceps if someone is given a weight too heavy to manage.
The weight would be lowered and your biceps would lengthen.
