Biophysical Journal 10: 155-171 (1970)
© 1970 the Biophysical Society

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A Phenomenological Theory of Muscular Contraction

II. Generalized Length Variations

ABSTRACT

In part I of this series, the theory of irreversible thermodynamics was applied to the sliding filament model to obtain rate equations for a contracting muscle at the in situ length l_o. In this paper we extend the theory to include length variations derived from the sliding filament model of contracting muscle using the work of Gordon, Huxley, and Julian (1). Accepting the validity of Hill's forcevelocity relation (2) at the in situ length, we show that Hill's equation is valid for any length provided that the values of the parameters, a, b, and V_m vary with length as derived herein. The predicted variation with length of the velocity for a lightly loaded isotonic contraction is shown to agree well with that measured by Gordon, Huxley, and Julian (1). Chemical rates are derived as functions of length using parameters that can be obtained experimentally.