I had a really cool lab for my Physical Agents class yesterday. We hooked each other up to a TENS machine with electrodes. TENS machines are used to reduce pain, and not normally to produce muscle contractions, however we used them for contractions. We then played with increasing the duration of pulses and the intensity of the pulse. At first you just feel a tingling from the electrodes. That is cool, but the real coolness comes when the intensity is high enough to make your muscles contract. The electrodes are placed over the muscle belly of the muscle that you want to work. For example, I wanted my extend my wrist (bend my wrist backwards), so I put the electrodes on my forearm near my lateral elbow. We cranked up the intensity and without me doing anything, my wrist moved. It was freaky and fascinating! I rank it up there with the lab where we dissected chicken thighs- working on a knee joint and finding the ACL.
After class I left a little confused about waves, pulses, frequency, and duration. I won't bore you with the details on the question. I emailed my teacher and today when we met to discuss it she said- very astude question, I am surprised it came from you. Sure made me laugh. What she meant was that my liberal arts brain claims I don't get science, but I had to understand some science to come up with it.
We are on to more electricity this week. My brain feels fried after the lecture, but I'll survive.
3 comments:
That's how it happened, And she keeps telling me she doesn't know science! From the teacher.
Your brain feels FRIED after all the ELECTRICITY.
Ba-dum-ching.
Okay, sorry, bad joke. I am, after all, a science geek. :)
Isn't there a spell in Harry Potter where people controlled the movements of others? Kind of sounds like that, doesn't it?
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