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LAB
How Does Fatigue Affect Muscle Performance?

Problem
A condition known as muscle fatigue occurs when certain waste products of
muscle activity (lactic acid) build up in the cells. Until these waste chemicals
are removed, the fatigue will continue.

Do the Following Activity:

Hold a spring-type clothespin between your thumb and index finger. Pinch the
ends together completely (until the two ends touch) and release them. Do this
as rapidly as possible for one minute. Record the number of times you could
squeeze the clothespin:

Hypothesis:

In this experiment, I predict that I will be able to squeeze the clothespin

__10__ times in one minute. I made this prediction because _I dont really know
how much the clothes pin weighs__
Independent Variable: Gender, Boys vs.Girls results
Dependent Variable: We measure how many times we will open and close a
clothes pin
Control: The finger + Time Dominate Hand
Data/Results:

Trial # # of Squeezes in 1 minute

1 101
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2 170
3 140
4 200
Average 152.75

Conclusion: (Analyze your data and summarize your findings. Sate how the
results relate to the hypothesis.)
We tried to see how many times our thumb and index fingers open and close a
clothespin and tried to see who has better finger muscles. We also found that
girls have more hand muscle than boys.

Boys Girls

140.013 155.3

Reflection Questions:

1. Could you do as many in a minute the fourth time as you could do

the first time? Provide a biological explanation for these results.
Yes because we would want it to not have a lot of struggle if we went slow so we
wouldnt want to be in pain in one whole minute.

2. What does an increased pulse rate indicate about the heart rate
and flow of blood in someones body?
It increases as the pulse rate _____Goes
Faster_______
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It decreases as the pulse rate ____Gets

Slower_______

3. If you want to increase your clothespin-squeezing rate, would you

suggest exercising or resting before you did it? Explain why you think
your choice is correct.
Id choose resting because then you would be saving up your energy and
strength. Then when you get the clothespin you wouldnt be in much pain as in
exercising.

4. What do you think would happen to the number of squeezes if you

were asked to do a 5th trial for clothespin squeezing?
We would be sore but we would still do it but we would be slower than the first
one because we used a lot of our muscles. So it would decrease because you're
getting weaker every time because you're in pain.

5. What effect did muscle fatigue have on the action of your hand
muscles?
It made me see how strong my fingers are and how many time I could open and
close a clothespin just with my index finger and my thumb.