The Skeletal, Muscular and

Levers System
Muscular Physics
 Movement
• The physical constraints to movement
– gravity and frictional drag
– occur in every environment, differing only in
degree
• Involves skeletal and muscular systems
– Muscle have microtubules and microfilaments
• Needs energy
 Types of Skeletal Systems
Changes in movement occur because muscles pull
against a support structure, called the skeletal
system
-Zoologists recognize three types:
-Hydrostatic skeletons
-Exoskeletons
-Endoskeletons

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 Hydrostatic Skeletons
Are found primarily in soft-bodied invertebrates,
both terrestrial and aquatic

Locomotion in earthworms
-Involves a fluid-filled central cavity and
surrounding circular & longitudinal muscles
-A wave of circular followed by longitudinal
muscle contractions move fluid down body
-Produces forward movement
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 Hydrostatic Skeletons
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Longitudinal muscles
Anterior

Longitudinal muscles
Circular muscles contract, and segments
Longitudinal muscles contracted catch up

Circular muscles Circular muscles Circular muscles

contracted contract, and anterior contract, and anterior
end moves forward end moves forward

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 Hydrostatic Skeletons
Locomotion in aquatic invertebrates
-Occurs by fluid ejections or jetting
-Jellyfish produce regular pulsations in bell
-Squeezing some of water contained
beneath it
-Squids fill mantle cavity with sea water
-Muscular contractions expel water
forcefully through the siphon, and the
animal shoots backward 6
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Jellyfish
propelled
Bell upward
Contractile fibers Bell
pulsates

Water
Water expelled
enters from bell
bell

a.

Squid
propelled
Water expelled backward
from siphon 7
b.
 Exoskeletons
The exoskeleton surrounds the body as a rigid
hard case
-Composed of chitin in arthropods
An exoskeleton provides protection for internal
organs and a site for muscle attachment
-However, it must be periodically shed, in order
for the animal to grow
-It also limits body size
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 Endoskeletons
Endoskeletons are rigid internal skeletons that
form the body’s framework and offer surfaces
for muscle attachment
-Echinoderms have calcite skeletons, that are
made of calcium carbonate
-Bone, on the other hand, is made of
calcium phosphate

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 Endoskeletons
Vertebrate endoskeletons have bone and/or
cartilage
-Bone is much stronger than cartilage, and much
less flexible
Unlike chitin, bone and cartilage are living tissues
-They can change and remodel in response to
injury or physical stress

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 Joints
Joints are the locations where one bone meets
another

-1. Immovable joints = Join bones

-2. Slightly movable joints = Involve fibrous
connective tissue or cartilage
-3. Freely movable joints = Also called
synovial joints
-Contain a lubricating fluid
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Immovable Joint

Bone

Suture

Fibrous
connective
tissue

a.
Slightly Movable Joints Freely Movable Joint
Fibrous Joints
Fibrous capsule

Synovial membrane
Synovial fluid
Fibrous Articular cartilage
joints

Cartilaginous Joints c.

Body of
vertebra
Intervertebral
disk
Articular
cartilage
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b.
 Joints
Movable joints can be divided into four types
-Ball-and-socket joints = Permit movement in
all directions
-Hinge joints = Allow movement in only one
plane
-Gliding joints = Permit sliding of one surface
over another
-Pivot joints = Allow rotation

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Ball-and-Socket Hinge Joint Gliding Joint

a. b. c.

Combination Joint

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d.
 The Muscular System
Interactions of Skeletal Muscles in the Body

• Muscles usually work in groups, i.e. perform

“group actions”

• Muscles are usually arranged in antagonistic pairs

– flexor-extensor
– abductor-adductor, etc.
 How Skeletal Muscles Produce
Movement
• Muscles exert force on
tendons that pull on bones

• Muscles usually span a

joint

• Muscle contraction changes

Brachialis
the angle or position of one flexes forearm
bone relative to another
 How Skeletal Muscles Produce
Movement
• Origin: the attachment of origin
the muscle to the bone
that remains stationary

• Insertion: the attachment belly

of the muscle to the bone
that moves

• Belly: the fleshy part of

the muscle between the insertion
tendons of origin and/or
insertion
 Naming Skeletal Muscles
• Location of the muscle
• Shape of the muscle
• Relative Size of the muscle
• Direction/Orientation of the muscle fibers/cells
• Number of Origins
• Location of the Attachments
• Action of the muscle
 Muscles Named by Location
• Epicranius (around
cranium)

• Tibialis anterior tibialis

(front of tibia) anterior
 Naming Skeletal Muscles
Trapezius
• Shape:
– deltoid (triangle)
Deltoid
– trapezius (trapezoid, 2
parallel sides)

– serratus (saw-toothed)

– rhomboideus (rhomboid,
4 parallel sides)

– orbicularis and
Rhomboideus
sphincters (circular)
major
Serratus anterior
Muscles Named by Size
• maximus (largest) Psoas
minor
• minimis (smallest)
• longus (longest)
Psoas
• brevis (short) major
• major (large)
• minor (small)
Muscles Named by Direction of Fibers
• Rectus
(straight)-
parallel to long Rectus
axis abdominis

• Transverse

• Oblique

External
oblique
 Muscles Named for Number of
Origins
• Biceps (2)

• Triceps (3)
Biceps
brachii
• Quadriceps (4)
 Muscles Named for Origin and
Insertion
Sternocleidomastoid
originates from sternum
and clavicle and inserts insertion
on mastoid process of
temporal bone

origins
 Muscles Named for Action

• Flexor carpi radialis (extensor

carpi radialis) –flexes wrist
• Abductor pollicis brevis
(adductor pollicis) –flexes Adductor
thumb magnus

• Abductor magnus – abducts

thigh
• Extensor digitorum – extends
fingers
 Movements
• Range of motion:
depends on length of
muscle fibers (fascicles);
long fibers = large range
of motion
– parallel and fusiform
muscles
• Power: depends on total
number of muscle fibers;
many fibers = great
power
– convergent, pennate,
bipennate, multipennate
 Lever Systems and Leverage
• Lever: i.e. bones, a rigid rod that moves on
some fixed point

• Fulcrum: i.e. joint, a fixed point

• Resistance:
– the force that opposes movement
– the load or object (bone or tissue) to be moved

• Effort:
– the force exerted to achieve a movement
– the effort is provided by muscle(s)

• Motion is produced when the effort exceeds

the resistance (isotonic contraction)
 Lever Systems and Leverage
• Leverage: the mechanical advantage gained by a
lever

• Power: muscle tension (effort) farther from joint

(fulcrum) produces stronger contraction (opposes
greater resistance)

• Range of motion (ROM): muscle tension

(effort) closer to joint (fulcrum) produces greater
range of motion.
 Mechanical Advantage
• Load is near fulcrum, effort is far away
• Only a small effort is required to move an object
• Allows a heavy object to be moved with a small effort
• Example: car jack
 Mechanical Disadvantage
• Load is far from the fulcrum, effort is near the
fulcrum
– a large effort is required to move the object
– allows object to be moved rapidly, a “speed lever”
– throwing a baseball
 Lever Systems and Leverage
• First-class lever: (EFR) Effort-Fulcrum-Resistance
 Leverage Systems and Leverage
• Second class lever: (FRE) Fulcrum-Resistance-Effort
 Leverage Systems and Leverage
• Third-class lever: (FER) Fulcrum-Effort-Resistance
Skeletal Muscles
 Web sites
• Interactive muscular system:
http://www.getbodysmart.com/ap/muscularsystem/menu/men
u.html
5-8th grade muscle activity:
http://www.whitakercenter.org/Education/Curriculum%20Guides/Grades%206-
8/6-8%20Simple%20Machines/Building%20Levers%20Post.pdf

http://teachhealthk-12.uthscsa.edu/curriculum/levers/levers.asp