Department of Energy Argonne National Laboratory Office of Science NEWTON's Homepage NEWTON's Homepage
NEWTON, Ask A Scientist!
NEWTON Home Page NEWTON Teachers Visit Our Archives Ask A Question How To Ask A Question Question of the Week Our Expert Scientists Volunteer at NEWTON! Frequently Asked Questions Referencing NEWTON About NEWTON About Ask A Scientist Education At Argonne Heart Beats 
Name: Susie C.
Status: student
Age: 10
Location: N/A
Country: N/A
Date: 2000-2001
Question:
What causes the heart to beat?

Replies:
Because of chemical reactions that occur in the body, you produce very small amounts of electrical energy. This electrical energy sends a message to your heart and makes it beat. There is a patch of cells in the upper right chamber of your heart called the "pacemaker" that first gets the electrical signal and then sends the signal on to the rest of the parts of the heart. There are parts in your brain that can control how FAST or SLOW your heart beats, but for normal, everyday beating, the pacemaker keeps your heart going. Some people have a bad pacemaker and need to get an artificial one.

Van Hoeck

Click here to return to the Zoology Archives

NEWTON is an electronic community for Science, Math, and Computer Science K-12 Educators, sponsored and operated by Argonne National Laboratory's Educational Programs, Andrew Skipor, Ph.D., Head of Educational Programs.

For assistance with NEWTON contact a System Operator (help@newton.dep.anl.gov), or at Argonne's Educational Programs

NEWTON AND ASK A SCIENTIST
Educational Programs
Building 360
9700 S. Cass Ave.
Argonne, Illinois
60439-4845, USA
Update: June 2012
Weclome To Newton

Argonne National Laboratory