Anatomy & Physiology — Practice Questions flashcards
6 of 60 questions free to study here · 24 topics · the whole deck is built into Willys
Multiple-choice practice questions, one best answer each, on bones and muscles, nerve signals, the brain and cranial nerves, hormones, the heart, breathing, the kidney and acid–base.
Practice deck · part of Anatomy & Physiology I/II · written against: Standard two-semester A&P sequence; OpenStax Anatomy and Physiology 2e, consulted as a reference; no text copied. Updated 2026-10-10.
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A skateboarder falls on an outstretched hand and breaks the forearm bone on the thumb side, just above the wrist. Which bone is broken?
A) Clavicle
B) Humerus
C) Ulna
D) RadiusD) RadiusMajor Bones
The radius runs along the lateral (thumb) side of the forearm. The ulna is the forearm bone on the little-finger side, whose olecranon forms the point of the elbow. -
Tapping a patient's patellar tendon produces no knee jerk, yet he can extend his knee voluntarily with full strength. Damage to which part of the reflex arc best explains this?
A) The sensory neuron from the quadriceps muscle spindle
B) The primary motor cortex in the precentral gyrus
C) The quadriceps femoris muscle that serves as the effector
D) The motor neuron that carries commands to the quadricepsA) The sensory neuron from the quadriceps muscle spindleSpinal Cord and Reflexes
Voluntary knee extension uses the same motor neuron and muscle, so those must work; the break is on the afferent (sensory) side of the arc. The motor cortex is not part of this monosynaptic spinal reflex, so damage there would not abolish it. -
A head injury cuts the pituitary stalk, interrupting the hypophyseal portal vessels. Which change in anterior pituitary output is expected?
A) All six anterior pituitary hormones rise
B) Prolactin falls while TSH, ACTH, FSH and LH rise
C) Prolactin and growth hormone rise while TSH is unchanged
D) Prolactin rises while TSH, ACTH, FSH and LH fallD) Prolactin rises while TSH, ACTH, FSH and LH fallHypothalamus and Pituitary
Most anterior pituitary hormones depend on hypothalamic releasing hormones arriving by the portal system, so they fall. Prolactin is held mainly under inhibition by dopamine, so losing the hypothalamic signal lets it rise. -
A patient's SA node stops firing, but the rest of the conduction system is healthy. What is expected?
A) The Purkinje fibers take over at about 70–75 beats per minute
B) The AV node takes over at about 100 beats per minute
C) The AV node takes over at about 40–60 beats per minute
D) The heart stops because no other cells are self-excitableC) The AV node takes over at about 40–60 beats per minuteConduction System
When the SA node fails, the AV node becomes the pacemaker at its slower intrinsic rate of about 40–60 per minute (an escape rhythm). If the AV node also failed, the Purkinje system would fire at only about 20–40. -
During hard exercise, a working muscle becomes warmer and produces more CO₂ and acid. How does this change the oxygen–hemoglobin curve in its capillaries?
A) It shifts left, so hemoglobin holds its oxygen more tightly
B) It shifts left, so hemoglobin unloads more oxygen to the muscle
C) It shifts right, so hemoglobin holds its oxygen more tightly
D) It shifts right, so hemoglobin unloads more oxygen to muscleD) It shifts right, so hemoglobin unloads more oxygen to muscleOxygen Transport
Higher temperature, CO₂ and H⁺ lower hemoglobin's affinity for oxygen (the Bohr effect and related shifts), moving the curve to the right. At any given PO₂, more oxygen is released, exactly where it is needed. -
A brainstem injury depresses the medullary respiratory centers, and breathing becomes slow and shallow. Which acid–base disturbance develops first?
A) Metabolic alkalosis, from retained bicarbonate
B) Metabolic acidosis, from lost bicarbonate
C) Respiratory acidosis, from retained CO₂
D) Respiratory alkalosis, from lost CO₂C) Respiratory acidosis, from retained CO₂Acid–Base Balance
Hypoventilation retains CO₂, pushing CO₂ + H₂O ⇌ H₂CO₃ ⇌ H⁺ + HCO₃⁻ to the right and lowering pH. The kidneys compensate only over days by retaining bicarbonate and excreting H⁺.
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About these cards
Review status: Second-reader reviewed, with corrections applied.
Checked against:
- OpenStax Anatomy and Physiology 2e, chapters on the skeleton, muscles, nervous system, endocrine system, cardiovascular system, respiratory system, urinary system and fluid, electrolyte and acid–base balance, consulted as a reference; no text copied.
- Original questions written for this deck; no official, textbook or question-bank items were copied. Typical values follow standard introductory A&P textbooks, calculations use hypothetical numbers, and medication amounts and treatment advice are deliberately omitted.
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