Exercise 6: Cardiovascular Physiology: Activity 5: Examining the Effects of Various Ions on Heart Rate Lab Report

Pre-lab Quiz Results

You scored 100% by answering 4 out of 4 questions correctly.
1. Which organelle in the cardiac muscle cell stores calcium?
You correctly answered: b. sarcoplasmic reticulum
2. Verapamil is a calcium-channel blocker. Its effects could be described as
You correctly answered: d. negative chronotropic and negative inotropic.
3. When the cardiac muscle cell is at rest, where is most of the potassium found?
You correctly answered: c. in the cytosol
4. Resting cardiac muscle cells are most permeable to
You correctly answered: b. potassium.

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Experiment Results
Predict Question:
Predict Question 1: Because calcium-channel blockers are negative chronotropic and negative inotropic, what effect do you
think increasing the concentration of calcium will have on heart rate?
Your answer : c. negative chronotropic, positive inotropic
Predict Question 2: Excess potassium outside of the cardiac cell decreases the resting potential of the plasma membrane,
thus decreasing the force of contraction. What effect (if any) do you think it will initially have on heart rate?
Your answer : b. decrease heart rate
Stop & Think Questions:
Where in the cardiac muscle cell is most of the sodium normally found?
You correctly answered: a. outside of the cell
Experiment Data:
Solution
---Calcium
Sodium
Potassium

Heart Rate
61
70
34 then erratic
28 then erratic

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Post-lab Quiz Results

You scored 100% by answering 4 out of 4 questions correctly.
1. The addition of most of the ions resulted in
You correctly answered: c. an erratic heart rate.
2. The effect of potassium on the heart is
You correctly answered: b. negative chronotropic, negative inotropic.
3. The ion that had the most pronounced effect on heart rate was
You correctly answered: c. potassium.
4. Ectopic pacemakers can be caused by excessive leakage of potassium into cardiac cells, resulting in pacemakers
appearing in abnormal locations in the heart muscle. This hyperkalemia (excess potassium) decreases the resting potential
of the cardiac muscle cell. What effect do you think this would have on the force of contraction?
You correctly answered: d. decrease, negative inotropic

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Review Sheet Results

1. Describe the effect that increasing the calcium ions had on the heart in this activity. How well did the results compare
with your prediction?
Your answer:
si aumentamos los niveles de calcio. se aperturarran estos canales aumentando el ritmo cardiaco
2. Describe the effect that increasing the potassium ions initially had on the heart in this activity. Relate this to the resting
membrane potential of the cardiac muscle cell. How well did the results compare with your prediction?
Your answer:
disminuyo el ritmo cardiaco, pero de una manera muy abrupta, la prediccion fue correcta
3. Describe how calcium channel blockers are used to treat patients and why?
Your answer:
los bloqueadores de canales de calcio, que bloquean el movimiento de calcio a travs de sus canales en todas las fases
del potencial de accin cardaco. En consecuencia, cuanto menor es la entrada de calcio, tanto menor es la velocidad de
despolarizacin y la fuerza de la contraccin. Los modificadores que afectan al ritmo cardaco se denominan
cronotrpicos, y los modificadores que afectan a la fuerza de contraccin se denominan inotrpicos.

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