Muscular System
Types of Muscle
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There are three types of muscle found in the human body:
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Cardiac Heart Muscle - This type of muscle is found solely in the walls of the heart. This type of muscle is highly specialised. Cardiac muscle is highly resistant to fatigue due to the presence of a large number of mitochondria for respiration, myoglobin to store oxygen and a good blood supply allowing continuous supply of oxygen for aerobic respiration.
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Skeletal Muscle- Skeletal Muscles are those which attach to bones and have the main function of contracting to facilitate movement of our skeleton.
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Smooth Muscle- Smooth muscle is also sometimes known as Involuntary muscle due to our inability to control its movements. Smooth muscle is found in the walls of hollow organs such as the Stomach, Oesophagus, Bronchi and in the walls of blood vessels.
Skeletal Muscle
Muscles work by getting shorter and the process is called a contraction. Muscles are attached to bones by strong tendons. When a muscle contracts, it pulls on the bone, and the bone can move if it is part of a joint.
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Muscles can only pull and cannot push. This would be a problem if a joint were controlled by just one muscle. As soon as the muscle had contracted and pulled on a bone, there would be no way to move the bone back again. This problem is solved by having muscles in pairs, called antagonistic muscles. When one muscle ini the pair contracs the other relaxes, pulling the bone in one direction. When the roles are reversed, the bone moves in the opposite direction (as pictures below).
There are three different types of skeletal muscles:
Each type of muscle fibre has different characteristics
Difference Characteristics ..........
