Muscle Fatigue Lab - Mr. Powell's Biology Site



Muscle Fatigue Lab

Fermentation

Do not write on this lab sheet.

Purpose: To determine how long it takes for your muscles to become tired and full of lactic acid that results from fermentation.

Using your own paper:

Hypothesis

Write your hypothesis after reading the procedure.

Materials: Partner

Tennis ball

Stop watch, or wall clock

Pencil

Graph Paper

Procedure:

1. Create a data table on your answer sheet, like the one shown on the back of this lab. (Use a Ruler)

2. You will work with one partner. Each person will have one job.

3. After you and your partner have finished switch jobs with each other.

Jobs:

Squeezer: Grasp the tennis ball in your non-writing hand. Squeeze the tennis ball as hard as you can, and as many times as you can without stopping. Stop only at the end of the two minute time interval when your partner says stop. Help your partner to count the number of squeezes per every 10 second interval.

Timer: As your partner is squeezing the tennis ball, count the number of squeezes in a ten second interval. Write the number on the data table you created on your answer sheet. For the first interval write the number of squeezes beside number 1. Count the number of squeezes for the next ten second interval and write this value next to number 2. Repeat until your data table is complete.

Graph:

Once the data table is complete, graph your results. Give your graph a title and label the horizontal axis – intervals and label the vertical axis - number of squeezes.

Questions: Write your answers on your answer sheet

1. What happened to the number of squeezes over time?

2. How did your squeezing hand and arm feel towards the end of your squeezing period?

Information: When you work your muscles a lot in a short amount of time, your muscles cannot get the oxygen that they need for aerobic respiration. Instead, your muscles undergo fermentation and produce lactic acid. When lactic acid builds up, you get a burning sensation followed by pain in that muscle. With this information answer the following questions:

3. By looking at your results, pinpoint when you first had a buildup of lactic acid. How do you know?

4. How long does it take for the burning feeling to disappear?

5. Design a similar experiment that would answer this question: How long does it take for lactic acid to

build up in your thigh muscle? Don’t forget the test and what you would record as data.

Data Table: The Number of Squeezes over Time

Partner One Partner two

|Intervals (10 |Number of squeezes |  |Intervals (10|Number of Squeezes |

|sec.) | | |sec.) | |

|1 |  |  |1 |  |

|2 |  |  |2 |  |

|3 |  |  |3 |  |

|4 |  |  |4 |  |

|5 |  |  |5 |  |

|6 |  |  |6 |  |

|7 |  |  |7 |  |

|8 |  |  |8 |  |

|9 |  |  |9 |  |

|10 |  |  |10 |  |

|11 |  |  |11 |  |

|12 |  |  |12 |  |

|13 |  |  |13 |  |

|14 |  |  |14 |  |

|15 |  |  |15 |  |

|16 |  |  |16 |  |

|17 |  |  |17 |  |

|18 |  |  |18 |  |

|19 |  |  |19 |  |

|20 |  |  |20 |  |

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