Question

Name the tissue that connects muscles to bones
A) Tendon
B) Ligament
C) Cartilage
D) none of the above

Answer 1

In the body there are several different kinds of connective tissues. Some are elastic, others are not. Muscles are responsible for our movements, and to this they have to be able to move our skeleton.

Complete answer:
Muscles are an extremely contractile tissue, therefore to prevent stress, the tissue that attaches muscle to bone has to have contractile properties. The tissue that attaches muscles to bones is the tendons. The correct answer is (A)
Because tendons have elastic properties, it means that as the muscles contract and relax tendons can also contract and relax accordingly to a certain extent. Each muscle will have tendons at both ends. The role of the tendon is to transmit all the contractile forces of the muscle to the bone, resulting in movement.
Option (B) is incorrect because ligaments attach bone to bone. These are tough connective tissues which are non-elastic in nature. Bones have to be held in place at the same distance from each other, ligaments keep the joints stable.
Option (C) is incorrect because cartilage does not connect bone to bone or muscle to bone. It instead forms protective cushioning between joints to help joints move smoothly and protect against shock absorption. Cartilage is much softer than the other two tissues, and is almost gel-like in consistency.

Hence the correct answer is option ‘A’.

Note: Tendons come in different shapes and sizes depending on the kind of muscle they are attached to. For instance, if the muscle is responsible for fine delicate movements, the tendons are long and thin.