Physiology concept inventory
Choose the best answer
1. What is reaction time?
a) the time it takes for your brain to realize an event has occured
b) the time it takes for your brain to send an impulse to your muscles to move
c) the time it takes for your muscles to move
d) all of the above
2. Why is it harder to balance when you’re carrying a heavy backpack?
a) the muscles in your back are contracting
b) your center of gravity changes
c) the backpack has a different density than your body
d) none of the above
3. Which parts of your body are the most susceptable to mechanical stress?
a) bones
b) joints
c) eyeballs
d) brain
4. Why do small chimpanzees have much greater arm strength than larger humans?
a) their diet contains natural steroids
b) their bones are lighter and easier to move
c) their muscles are made of different tissues than human muscles
d) their muscles are attached to their arm bone in a different location than human muscles
5. Define metabolism.
a) the process by which all living things turn food into energy and living tissue
b) the amount of exercise a person gets
c) a ratio of the amount of time awake to the amount of time asleep
d) all of the above
6. Why is cholesterol a potential health hazard?
a) it is toxic
b) it is carcinogenic (cancer-causing)
c) it builds up in the arteries and elevates blood pressure
d) it builds up on the brain and causes Alzheimer’s disease
7. What causes motion sickness?
a) light moving quickly accross the eyes confuses the brain
b) the fluid in the inner ear sloshes around and confuses the brain
c) the center of gravity is constantly changing, which confuses the brain
d) all of the above
8. Which of these are ways that materials can pass into and out of cells.
a) passage through electrically charged channels
b) sharp edged molecules poke holes in cell membrane
c) magnetism
d) none of above
9. People who have been poisoned with cyanide often turn blue. Why is this?
a) cyanide is blue, it tints the tissues
b) cyanide causes a chemical reaction that turns muscle fibers blue
c) cyanide prevents respiration from completion, keeping oxygen out of the blood, turning it blue
d) cyanide causes a dramatic drop in body temperature, turning the body blue
10. What color is visible light?
a) white
b) sky blue
c) it is a combination of many colors
d) none of the above
11. Why can’t humans see ultraviolet light?
a) our corneas block UV
b) we lack receptors for UV
c) the atmosphere keeps out UV
d) a and b
12. Which of these are sensory abilities of animals that humans lack?
a) sharks can detect electric impulses
b) birds can navigate using the earth’s magnetic field
c) bees can see ultraviolet light
d) all of the above