Question

shows a microscopic view of muscle tissue. In the figure, structures called sarcomeres are bordered by ridges. The regular pattern of the ridges means that the muscle can operate as a reflection grating, and a measurement of the resulting diffraction pattern can give a measurement of the length of the sarcomeres, which is the distance between the ridges. This has been used to provide measurements of sarcomere length during exercise, as the sarcomeres lengthen and shorten. In one case, an investigator shined a 632 nm laser on exposed muscle tissue in a patient's forearm as he moved his wrist back and forth through a 100∘ angle, contracting and then stretching the muscle. The resulting diffraction pattern was projected onto a screen 2.4 cm from the muscle. The investigator measured the distance between the two m = 2 fringes on either side of the central maximum. This length varied from 1.9 cm to 2.7 cm.

What were the minimum and maximum values of the sarcomere length?

Express your answers in micrometers.

Answer 1