Robinson Wollersheim                5/2/2007

Investigating Muscle Contraction

Purpose:  To investigate how different solutions influence the muscle contractions on muscle fibers of chicken.  

Hypothesis:  I think that when water is added there will be little expansion in the muscle, when glucose is added little contraction and when ATP is added the most contraction.  I think this because muscle contraction is related to the amount of energy the muscle receives. ATP (adenosine triphosphate) is a product of glucose respiration. It is a high-energy bond and has a very short halftime of half a second. Muscle expansion is in one way related with the amount of water the muscle receives because the cells absorb the water and therefore expand.

Variables:

Independent variable:          Water, Glucose, ATP (adenosine triphosphate)

Dependent variable        :        Change in length of chicken muscle fiber

Controlled variable         :        Temperature, Same source of chicken, same age of chicken, same circumstances, same treatment of chicken

Join now!

Uncontrolled variable:         Length and width of Chicken muscle fiber

Materials:  

  • Muscle fibers
  • Millimeter graph paper
  • 3 glass slides
  • 3 droppers
  • Distilled water
  • Glucose solution
  • ATP solution
  • Stop clock
  • Blunt mounted needles
  • Petri dish

Method:

1.  Place the muscle fiber on a glass slide.  Place the slide on the piece of graph paper.

2.  Use the mounted needles to straighten the fibre (the lines on the graph paper should help)

3.  Measure and record the length of the fibre.

4.  Put 3 drops of water on the fibre so that the whole length of the ...

This is a preview of the whole essay