The Role of Biophysics for Understanding Track & Field

What happens when a muscle contracts? What types of chain reactions are required in muscles for completing complex moves? The study biophysics provides some insight into these interesting questions.

The two graphs below are excerpted from The Science of Track and Field: Volume 2 (Copyright 2014, All Rights Reserved). 

Discussion Questions

1. In these two graphs, what is the maximum reading? What is the minimum reading?
2. What are the similarities between the two graphs?
3. What are the differences between the two graphs?
4. In these graphs, what type of motion does each region represent, from left to right: a) the initial straight line, b) the first spike, c) the low region, d) the next set of spikes, e) the final line?
5. What has happened to cause the observed differences in the final third of these graphs?

Additional Information

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