Inducing Contraction in Rabbit Psoas Muscle
The purpose of our experiment was to determine which of the three solutions that were tested induced the greatest contraction in a muscle fiber. The solutions tested were a salt solution made up of potassium chloride and magnesium chloride, an adenosine tri-phosphate solution, and a combination of the salt and adenosine tri-phosphate solutions. We ran 120 trials using 5 mm lengths of muscle containing three to four muscle fibers. We ran 40 trials for each of the three solutions. These muscle fibers were then placed on a microscope slide and flooded in one of the three solutions tested. The slide was viewed under a compound microscope to determine the amount of contraction via the scale built into the eyepiece. We found that the adenosine tri-phosphate solution produced a greater contraction than the salt solution of potassium chloride and magnesium chloride, but induced contractions that were less than those of the solution of salt and adenosine tri-phosphate solution. Relevantly, we also found that the salt solution of potassium chloride and magnesium chloride stimulated lower contractions than either of the adenosine tri-phosphate solution and the salt and adenosine tri-phosphate solution. Overall the solution of salt and adenosine tri-phosphate generated the greatest contractions. Our three null hypotheses were that the three solutions would all induce the same amount of contraction. From the results of our two sample t-tests, we had strong evidence to conclude that we could reject our null hypotheses for each comparison of the different solutions, thus allowing us to accept our alternative hypotheses.
Research Done By:
Kelly Howell
Warren Woods Tower High School
Sara Pfaff
Warren Woods Tower High School
Warren Consolidated Schools