IB Biology B3.3 Definitions
This page contains our IB Biology definitions for B3.3. By learning each one of these definitions, you will fully cover the content for IB Biology 'Muscle & motility'.
anchorage
A stationary point during contraction
antagonistic muscles
A pair of muscles that exert forces in opposite directions to one another
articular joint
A connection between bones
insertion
A point that moves during contraction
ligament
A connective tissue that attaches bone to bone to keep them together and in place, only allowing movement in certain directions
muscle contraction
The sliding of actin and myosin filaments over each other to pull the ends of each sarcomere together and shorten the entire muscle fiber
muscle fiber
A large multinucleated cell that composes skeletal muscle
Myofibrils
Long contractile fibers within a muscle cell
Sarcolemma
The plasma membrane of a muscle fiber
sarcomere
The smallest contractile unit of a myofibril
Sarcoplasmic Reticulum
A network of tubules in muscle fibers that stores calcium ions and coordinates muscle contraction
skeletal muscle
Muscle attached to bone
synovial joint
A moving connection between bones, but it only allows movement in certain directions
tendon
A connective tissue that attaches muscle to bone
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