Why is the gastrocnemius muscle of a frog didn't continue to contract when placed on a Ringer's solution?

Question

teachbio · Accepted Answer

Ringer's solution is isotonic (ie. same ion concentration) to tissue and is used to keep the muscle moist (don't want it to dry out since ions can't move in/out of the muscle cells unless they are aqueous).

The muscle, if properly stimulated, should still be able to contract without any problem. Are you sure there wasn't any other variable that was changed in your experiment?

Check out the experiment at http://www.mrs.umn.edu/~goochv/AnimalPhys/labmuscle/muscle.html

Anonymous · Answer

The Ringer's solution is actually a muscle relaxant chemicals.No wonder the frog's muscles ain't twitching.

Why is the gastrocnemius muscle of a frog didn't continue to contract when placed on a Ringer's solution?

2 Answers