Becker's World of the Cell 9th Edition by Lewis Kleinsmith, Jeff Hardin, Gregory Paul Bertoni

Exercise 4

Rigor Mortis and the Contraction Cycle. At death, the muscles of the body become very stiff and inextensible, and the corpse is said to go into rigor.
(a)Explain the basis of rigor. Where in the contraction cycle is the muscle arrested Why
(b)Would you be likely to go into rigor faster if you were to die while racing to class or while sitting in lecture Explain.
(c)What effect do you think the addition of ATP might have on muscles in rigor