What is Muscle?

Question 1

skeletal muscle/ striated muscle/ voluntary muscle

Answer 1

muscle with a striped appearance under the microscope; it moves the bones of the skeleton under voluntary control

Question 2

myofibril

Answer 2

a very long contracting fibre in skeletal muscle cells

Question 3

sarcomere

Answer 3

basic unit of muscle structure

Question 4

actin

Answer 4

one of the proteins which form the contracting mechanism of muscle cells

Question 5

myosin

Answer 5

one of the proteins which form the contracting mechanism of muscle cells

Question 6

sarcoplasm

Answer 6

the cytoplasm of muscle cells

Question 7

sarcoplasmic reticulum

Answer 7

the equivalent of the endoplasmic reticulum, found in muscle cells

Question 8

smooth muscle/ involuntary muscle

Answer 8

muscle which is under the control of the involuntary nervous system

Question 9

cardiac muscle

Answer 9

muscle which takes up the heart

Question 10

threshold level

Answer 10

the level of stimulus that triggers a response

Question 11

tetanus

Answer 11

the state of a muscle which is fully contracted and remains so for some time; the disease tetanus got its name because the muscles of the body go into tetanus and cannot relax, so you cannot breathe and this causes death

Question 12

myoglobin

Answer 12

a pigment with a high affinity for oxygen found in the muscle

Question 13

slow twitch muscle fibres

Answer 13

muscle fibres which contract and fatigue slowly; they contain many mitochondria, a lot of myoglobin and a rich blood supply

Question 14

fast twitch muscle fibres

Answer 14

muscle fibres which contract very rapidly and strongly and fatigue quickly; they have relatively low levels of myoglobin and low numbers of mitochondria