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Muscular System — HS Anatomy & Physiology practice questions

12 multiple-choice questions and 13 flashcards on Muscular System, about 8% of the HS Anatomy & Physiology bank. Every one carries a written rationale.

Written and maintained by the CoStudy team · last updated 2026-10-02 · how we write and review questions

What this chapter covers

Muscular System is one of 13 chapters in CoStudy's HS Anatomy & Physiology bank, and it holds 12 of the bank's 150 multiple-choice questions — roughly 8% of the total. That proportion is not arbitrary: chapters follow the certifying body's published exam outline, and the number of questions in each is set by that domain's published weight, so the share of your practice time this chapter takes matches the share of the real exam it accounts for.

Studying by chapter is worth doing once you have a diagnostic score. A single overall percentage tells you whether you are close; it does not tell you which domain is dragging. Working a weak chapter in isolation, and re-testing it in isolation, is the fastest way to move a score that has stalled — and it is why the mock exams in CoStudy report by domain rather than as one number.

Free Muscular System practice questions

3 questions drawn from this chapter, with the full rationale shown — the controlling principle behind the right answer, and why each wrong option tempts and fails.

Which muscle tissue is striated, branched, and involuntary?

  1. Skeletal
  2. Smooth
  3. Cardiac
  4. Visceral smooth

Answer: C — Cardiac

C) Correct — Cardiac cells are joined by intercalated discs. A) Is striated but voluntary and unbranched. B) Is involuntary but not striated. D) Is another name for smooth muscle in organs.

When a muscle contracts, its insertion:

  1. moves toward the origin
  2. stays fixed while the origin moves
  3. moves away from the origin
  4. detaches from the bone

Answer: A — moves toward the origin

A) Correct — The origin stays fixed; the insertion is pulled. B) Reverses the definitions. C) Contraction pulls the ends together. D) Tendons stay attached.

According to the sliding filament model, during contraction:

  1. actin and myosin filaments each shrink in length
  2. actin slides past myosin, shortening the sarcomere
  3. myosin slides out of the sarcomere entirely
  4. the Z lines move apart, lengthening the sarcomere

Answer: B — actin slides past myosin, shortening the sarcomere

B) Correct — The filaments keep their length; their overlap increases. A) The filaments stay the same length. C) The filaments overlap more, not less. D) Z lines move closer together.

Muscular System flashcards

4 cards from the 13 in this chapter.

Skeletal muscle structure?

Muscle → fascicles → fibers (cells) → myofibrils → sarcomeres.

Strain vs sprain?

Strain: stretched or torn muscle or tendon. Sprain: stretched or torn ligament.

Antagonistic muscles?

Opposing pairs. Biceps + triceps. One contracts, other relaxes.

Sliding filament theory?

Actin and myosin filaments slide past each other → muscle contraction.

Practise the full chapter

These are a sample. The full Muscular System chapter runs 25 items with per-chapter progress tracking, on the web and in the iOS app.

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