Clothespins & “Muscle Fatigue”
What are the affects of anaerobic respiration on your muscles?
Background
Under normal conditions muscles utilize oxygen (aerobic respiration)
to make 38 ATP from 1 glucose molecule. This process is very efficient.
Carbon dioxide and water are by-products of this reaction.
When muscles undergo rigorous exercise they require more oxygen to
make ATP than the blood can supply. At this point the muscle is forced to
produce ATP without oxygen (anaerobic respiration). Anaerobic respiration
produces only 2 ATPs for each molecule of glucose. The product of this reaction
is lactic acid. The advantage of anaerobic respiration is that the muscle cell can
quickly make ATP without oxygen. The disadvantage to anaerobic respiration is
that it produces lactic acid, which gives muscles a temporary burning sensation.
Muscle fatigue results when the demand for ATP is greater than the
rate at which ATP can be produced in the muscle fibers. As a consequence, ATP
levels are too low for muscle fibers to produce their maximum force
contraction.
The activity will demonstrate how your body used the resources
available to provide you with the energy you need to do work.
Vocabulary Terms to Know
Aerobic Respiration
Glucose
Anaerobic
ATP
Respiration
Muscle Fatigue
Lactic Acid
Refining Understanding
Aerobic Respiration
Reactants
Products
Advantages
Disadvantages
Anaerobic Respiration
Procedure:
1) Write a hypothesis for this experiment in your lab notebook using the
If…. than….because format.
2) Create a data table in your lab notebook. We will be doing six (30
second) trials with each hand.
3) Hold the clothespin straight out, between the thumb and forefinger
of your non-writing hand. The rest of your fingers should be closed
like a fist.
4) When your teacher says “Go”, start squeezing the clothespin as many
times as possible within the thirty second interval.
5) Keep a count of the number of times you have closed the clothespin and
write the number down in the data table.
6) Graph the data for each hand in your lab notebook.
Conclusion/Discussion Questions (answer the following questions in your lab
notebook).
1) How do your results compare to your hypothesis?
2) At approximately what time in each trial did you start to feel the “burn”
from the lactic acid build-up?
3) How do the data and graph illustrate the information you recorded in
the “refining understanding” table?
Clothespins & “Muscle Fatigue”
What are the affects of anaerobic respiration on your muscles?
I. Background
Under normal conditions muscles utilize oxygen (aerobic respiration)
to make 38 ATP from 1 glucose molecule. This process is very efficient.
Carbon dioxide and water are by-products of this reaction.
When muscles undergo rigorous exercise they require more oxygen to
make ATP than the blood can supply. At this point the muscle is forced to
produce ATP without oxygen (anaerobic respiration). Anaerobic respiration
produces only 2 ATPs for each molecule of glucose. The product of this reaction
is lactic acid. The advantage of anaerobic respiration is that the muscle cell can
quickly make ATP without oxygen. The disadvantage to anaerobic respiration is
that it produces lactic acid, which gives muscles a temporary burning sensation.
Muscle fatigue results when the demand for ATP is greater than the
rate at which ATP can be produced in the muscle fibers. As a consequence, ATP
levels are too low for muscle fibers to produce their maximum force
contraction.
The activity will demonstrate how your body used the resources
available to provide you with the energy you need to do work.
II. Vocabulary Terms to Know
Aerobic Respiration
Glucose
Anaerobic
ATP
Respiration
Muscle Fatigue
Lactic Acid
III. Refining Understanding
Aerobic Respiration
Reactants
Products
Advantages
Disadvantages
Anaerobic Respiration
IV Procedure:
7) Write a hypothesis for this experiment in your lab notebook using the
If…. than….because format.
8) Create a data table in your lab notebook. We will be doing six (30
second) trials with each hand.
9) Hold the clothespin straight out, between the thumb and forefinger
of your non-writing hand. The rest of your fingers should be closed
like a fist.
10) When your teacher says “Go”, start squeezing the clothespin as many
times as possible within the thirty second interval.
11) Keep a count of the number of times you have closed the clothespin and
write the number down in the data table.
12) Graph the data for each hand in your lab notebook.
V. Conclusion/Discussion Questions (answer the following questions in your lab
notebook).
4) How do your results compare to your hypothesis?
5) At approximately what time in each trial did you start to feel the “burn”
from the lactic acid build-up?
6) How do the data and graph illustrate the information you recorded in
the III. Refining Understanding.