Muscle (Chewing) Lab

In this lab we will be monitoring the electrical activity of the masseter muscle as we eat different foods. 

Materials:

Computer

Vemier computer interface

Logger Pro

Vemier EKG Sensor

Electrode tabs

Different types of foods

Question: Do all foods require the same muscle activity?

Hypothesis: If we eat the doritos then there will be more muscle activity because the food is crunchier and takes more to chew. 

Procedure: This lab we had to try different foods and see the results of our muscle movement. We chose 6 different types of foods: peanut butter, cake, Doritos, marshmallows, vanilla wafers, and Twix.  In order to begin the lab, the EMG Sensor w connected to the Vernier computer interface.  So one person was chosen from the group to get the three electrode tabs placed on different areas of the face. The first one was placed facing the ear, the wire was then looped over the ear. The second one was placed facing downwards on the side of the jaw, the wire had hung down this time. The last tab was placed on the right forearm, this one was attached to the black EKG electrode. The first two on the face were attached to the red and green EKG electrodes. The person will then sit with a still jaw to have the graph at a constant rate. Once that is done the person can start eating the different foods and record their results form the graph. The three pictures below are just some of the results we had received from our food.

Observation/Results: My group and I created a graph demonstrating what the outcome of all the food was below.

Conclusion: So in the end my hypothesis was not correct because the Doritos did not require the most muscle activity. the marshmallows did with a .805 as the mV. The food with the least muscle activity was the peanut butter with a .216 as the mV. Our group did not expect the results that we had received, in order from the most muscle activity to the least was the marshmallow with a .805, Twix with .708, vanilla wafers with a .683, Doritos with .621, cake with .55, and then peanut butter with a .216. So between the greatest and least muscle activity  there was a .589 difference. This lab was quite interesting with the ending results, we were able to learn the different strains our muscles are put through daily with the food we eat.