Practice question · Estimate
A muscle is stretched to 1.6 times its optimal sarcomere length, well beyond the point of useful filament overlap. Set the relative force it can now generate, from 0 to 1.
Estimate on a scale from No force (0) to Full force (1).
Hints
- Force depends on the number of cross-bridges that can form.
- Beyond the overlap limit there are essentially no cross-bridges, so force approaches zero.
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Why
At 1.6 times optimal length the filaments barely overlap, so almost no cross-bridges can form and force approaches 0. This is not a theoretical curiosity, it is why joints have ranges beyond which you can exert almost no force.
Practise Muscle and Nervous Tissue
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