Muscular System
Fact: Your tongue has 16 muscles, so it is not the strongest muscle in your body.
Functions
Although the muscle is a seemingly simple structure, the muscle serves many functions throughout the body. The functions of the muscular system include:
- bodily movement and structural support
- assistance and regulation of many bodily functions
Muscle Types
1. Skeletal Muscle
The skeletal muscle contracts via voluntary action/nerve impulses. Throwing a ball would be an example of a voluntary action that is controlled by skeletal muscles. These muscles contain many muscle fibers that are striated and banded.
2. Cardiac Muscle
Cardiac muscles are muscles that make up the heart. These muscles work continuously without rest. They move involuntarily as we do not mentally control when our hearts should beat and stop.
3. Smooth Muscle
These are found in internal organs such as the urinary and gallbladder, intestinal tract, and the stomach. These are involuntary muscles as we cannot mentally control how they should act.
The skeletal muscle contracts via voluntary action/nerve impulses. Throwing a ball would be an example of a voluntary action that is controlled by skeletal muscles. These muscles contain many muscle fibers that are striated and banded.
2. Cardiac Muscle
Cardiac muscles are muscles that make up the heart. These muscles work continuously without rest. They move involuntarily as we do not mentally control when our hearts should beat and stop.
3. Smooth Muscle
These are found in internal organs such as the urinary and gallbladder, intestinal tract, and the stomach. These are involuntary muscles as we cannot mentally control how they should act.
Myosin and Actin
Myosin heads deliver ATP repeatedly to Actin. Each Myosin head has a catalytic core which speeds up the process. The entire process can be seen below.