Q.How do you distinguish between a skeletal muscle and a cardiac muscle?

Both skeletal and cardiac muscle look striped (striated), but they differ in several ways:

• Location: Skeletal muscle is attached to the bony parts of the body; cardiac muscle is found only in the wall of the heart.
• Control: Skeletal muscle is voluntary, working under the conscious command of the nervous system; cardiac muscle is involuntary, since the nervous system does not directly command its beating.
• Cell arrangement: Skeletal muscle fibres are not branched; cardiac muscle cells join together in a branching pattern. …

Muscles are classified by their location, their appearance under the microscope, and the way their activity is regulated. Skeletal and cardiac muscle share one feature — both are striated, showing a striped or banded pattern — so it is the other features that set them apart.

• Location. Skeletal muscle is closely attached to the skeletal (bony) parts of the body, which is why it takes its name. Cardiac muscle, as its name shows, is the muscle of the heart and is found only there.
• Regulation of activity. Skeletal muscle is under the conscious command of the nervous system, so it is called voluntary muscle. Cardiac muscle is involuntary, because the nervous system does not directly command its beating.
• Cellular arrangement. In cardiac muscle many cells join together in a branching pattern to build up the heart muscle. Skeletal muscle fibres do not show this branching; they are arranged into bundles or fascicles bound together by connective tissue. …