The capacitance of skeletal muscle fibers in solutions of low ionic strength

Related Concept Videos

Overview of Skeletal Muscle01:15

Overview of Skeletal Muscle

Skeletal muscles are composed of a bundle of muscle fibers and are attached to bones through tendons. Each skeletal muscle fiber is a single muscle cell. The sarcolemma, the plasma membrane of a skeletal muscle cell, consists of a lipid bilayer and glycocalyx that supports muscle fibers. The sarcolemma extends into the muscle cells to form tubular structures called transverse or T-tubules. Each side of the T-tubules consists of a membrane-bound structure called the sarcoplasmic reticulum,...
Ionic Strength: Overview01:12

Ionic Strength: Overview

The ionic strength of a solution is a quantitative way of expressing the total electrolyte concentration of a solution. This concept was first introduced in 1921 by two American physical chemists, Gilbert N. Lewis and Merle Randall, while describing the activity coefficient of strong electrolytes. During the calculation of ionic strength (I or μ), all the cations and anions are considered. However, the concentration (c) of an ion with a greater charge number (z) has a greater contribution to...
Ionic Strength: Effects on Chemical Equilibria01:19

Ionic Strength: Effects on Chemical Equilibria

The addition of an inert ionic compound increases the solubility of a sparingly soluble salt. For example, adding potassium nitrate to a saturated solution of calcium sulfate significantly enhances the solubility of calcium sulfate. Le Châtelier's principle cannot predict this shift in the equilibrium. Instead, this could be explained in terms of changes in the effective concentration of the ions in solution in the presence of added inert salt.
In this solution, the primary cation—the calcium...
Microscopic Anatomy of Skeletal Muscles01:13

Microscopic Anatomy of Skeletal Muscles

Skeletal muscle cells, also called muscle fibers, are distinctly elongated, multi-nucleated, slender biological units. They are packed with specialized structures designed to facilitate their primary function, which is contraction.
The muscle sarcolemma is a plasma membrane enclosing each muscle cell that conducts electrical signals called action potentials. The sarcolemma extends into the cell to form T-tubules, ensuring the neural impulses are uniformly distributed across the entire muscle...
Generation of Action Potential in Skeletal Muscles01:24

Generation of Action Potential in Skeletal Muscles

Every cell in the body maintains a membrane potential due to an uneven distribution of positive and negative charges across its plasma membrane. The membrane potential is measured in millivolts and quantifies the difference in charge across the membrane.
Like neurons, muscle cells are also regarded as excitable due to their capacity to change in response to stimuli, primarily due to voltage-gated ion channels embedded in their plasma membranes, which get activated by alterations in the cell's...
Relaxation of Skeletal Muscles01:29

Relaxation of Skeletal Muscles

The period of muscle contraction primarily influences the duration of stimulation at the neuromuscular junction (NMJ), the presence of free calcium ions in the sarcoplasm, and the availability of energy or ATP to support contractions.
When an action potential reaches the axon terminal, it depolarizes the membrane and opens voltage-gated sodium channels. Sodium ions enter the cell, further depolarizing the presynaptic membrane. This depolarization causes voltage-gated calcium channels to open.