This slide is a transverse section of skeletal muscle.

This slide is a transverse section of skeletal muscle.

• A. True
• B. Not determinable
• C. False
• D. Not applicable

Answer: (A)

When you examine skeletal muscle under the microscope, the orientation matters. A transverse (cross) section is cut perpendicular to the length of the muscle fibers, so you see many fiber profiles that appear round or polygonal. Each fiber typically shows nuclei pushed to the periphery and is separated from its neighbors by small bands of connective tissue (endomysium), with larger connective tissue bundles (perimysium and epimysium) surrounding groups of fibers. You don’t expect to see the banding pattern of sarcomeres within a fiber in this view, because you’re not looking along the length. If the slide shows round or polygonal fiber profiles with peripheral nuclei and connective tissue separating them, that matches a transverse section of skeletal muscle, so the statement is true. If the view looked like elongated fibers with striations running along their length, that would be a longitudinal section instead.

When you examine skeletal muscle under the microscope, the orientation matters. A transverse (cross) section is cut perpendicular to the length of the muscle fibers, so you see many fiber profiles that appear round or polygonal. Each fiber typically shows nuclei pushed to the periphery and is separated from its neighbors by small bands of connective tissue (endomysium), with larger connective tissue bundles (perimysium and epimysium) surrounding groups of fibers. You don’t expect to see the banding pattern of sarcomeres within a fiber in this view, because you’re not looking along the length.

If the slide shows round or polygonal fiber profiles with peripheral nuclei and connective tissue separating them, that matches a transverse section of skeletal muscle, so the statement is true. If the view looked like elongated fibers with striations running along their length, that would be a longitudinal section instead.